LEST WE FORGET

Flight Sergeant Donald Murray EASTON

Service No: 432498
Born: Essendon VIC, 26 July 1924
Enlisted in the RAAF: 2 January 1943 (at Woolloomooloo NSW)
Unit: No. 61 Squadron (RAF), RAF Skellingthorpe, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 61 Squadron Lancaster aircraft RA560), Germany, 21 March 1945, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Durnbach War Cemetery, Bad Tolz, Bayern, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Murray Erle Purvis Easton and Alice Roza Maria Easton, of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Canberra ACT
Remembered: Panel 121, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT

The Germans gave priority to repairing the Bohlen oil installations because of their relative distance from English bomber bases, and within a fortnight Bomber Command assessed that some units were again in operation. Thus on 20th-21st March No. 463 sent 16 and No. 467 17 crews in a force of 224 which in much better weather dropped 946 tons of bombs in the most concentrated of the series of attacks against Bohlen. Photographs, obtained 12 hours after the main attack, showed fires burning in various parts of the plant; apart from severe and widespread damage to vital units the internal marshalling yards had been heavily hit and it was estimated that Bohlen was unlikely to be substantially operative for at least two months. In the event, because of the progress of the armies, no further bombing attack was necessary, but this last attack was relatively costly as 10 bombers were lost, including one of No. 463 and one each piloted by Australians of Nos. 50, 57, 61, 97 and 207 Squadrons, while another Australian pilot failed to return from a small feint attack by 12 aircraft against Halle which was intended to divert enemy fighters from Bohlen.

Extract from Herington, J. (John) (406545) Air War Over Europe 1944-1945, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1963 – Page 427

Lancaster RA560 took off from RAF Skellingthorpe at 2334 hours on the night of 20/21st March 1945, detailed to bomb a synthetic oil plant at Bohlen, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft exploded in the air and crashed near Kirch-Goens, approximately 10 kms south of Giessen and all the crew members were killed

The crew members of RA560 were:

Sergeant Anthony John Maxwell Davies (1869380) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant Donald Murray Easton (432498) (Wireless Operator Air)
Sergeant William Lane (1488857) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flying Officer Charles Henry Saunders (154588) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Flying Officer John Frederick Swales (422989) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Ralph Taylor (1580857) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Thomas Torney (1799465) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)

No. 463 Squadron lost Lancaster PB845 (Flying Officer Richard Stewart Bennett (436327) (Pilot)) on 21 March 1945.

No. 50 Squadron (RAF) lost Lancaster ME441 (Pilot Officer Allan Neil Levy (429153) (Pilot)) on 21 March 1945.

No. 57 Squadron (RAF) lost Lancaster LM653 (Flight Lieutenant Aubrey Robert Palling (428261) (Pilot)) on 21 March 1945

In addition to the loss of LM653, No. 57 Squadron (RAF) lost Lancaster RA 30 (Flying Officer Charles Alan Cobern (5870) (Pilot)) which crashed soon after take-off on 20 March 1945.

No. 97 Squadron (RAF) lost Lancaster PA973 (Flight Lieutenant John Dennis Cottman (418813) (Pilot)) on 21 March 1945.

No. 207 Squadron (RAF) lost Lancaster PA196 (Flying Officer Raymond Allan Lewis (19892) (Pilot)) on 21 March 1945.

In the small feint attack against Halle, No. 227 Squadron (RAF) lost Lancaster PA259 (Flying Officer Warren Henry Pitts (436480) (Pilot)) on 21 March 1945.

References:

Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/11/260

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