LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Derek Atkinson ELLIS
Service No: 419383
Born: Melbourne VIC, 23 September 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 20 July 1942
Unit: No. 49 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Fulbeck
Died: Air Operations: (No. 49 Squadron Lancaster aircraft PB369), Germany, 12 November 1944, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Surg. Comdr. Carlton Atkinson Ellis, R.A.N., F.R.C.S., and Clarice Annie M. Ellis, of Brighton Beach, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Brighton VIC
Remembered: Panel 257, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 121, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1627 hours on the night of 11 November 1944 Lancaster PB369 took off from Fulbeck to bomb Harburg, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. A post war report by a Missing Research and Enquiry Team stated “the wreck of the aircraft was located in sand dunes on the banks of the River Elbe in Hamburg.” The remains of four crew members were recovered while the other four are commemorated on the Memorial to the Missing, Runnymede, Surrey.
The crew members of PB369 were:
Flying Officer Derek Atkinson Ellis (419383) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Leonard Thomas Francis (186468) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Squadron Leader Harold Gorton (120984) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant William Gerrard Hannon (965557) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Flying Officer George Ernest Illingworth (183122) (RAFVR) (Second Pilot)
Pilot Officer Frederick Edwin John (186381) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Frederick Edward Jones (1472177) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Pilot Officer Frank Tingle (188457) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
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 Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/11/70