LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Ronald Harry EMMERSON
Service No: 410330
Born: Clifton Hill VIC, 26 September 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 6 December 1941
Unit: No. 75 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Mepal
Died: Air Operations: (No. 75 Squadron Stirling aircraft ED163), Cambridgeshire, 16 December 1943, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Cambridge City Cemetery, Cambridgeshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Harry Alfred and Pearl Irene Emmerson, of Alphington, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Alphington VIC
Remembered: Panel 121, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1700 hours on the night of 16 December 1943 Stirling EF163 took off from Mepal detailed to carry out mine-laying off the Frisian Islands. The aircraft crashed in bad visibility at Biddingtpon Farm, Sutton, Cambridgeshire. Six of the crew members were killed and one was injured in the crash. The cause of the crash may have been due to the aircraft’s centre of gravity being affected by a mine that failed to release.
The crew members of EF163 were:
Sergeant Raymond Askew (1477972) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant Ronald Harry Emmerson (410330) (Observer)
Flying Officer Ralph Francis Jenkin (416119) (RNZAF) (Navigator)
Pilot Officer Colin John Kinross (417069) (RNZAF) (Pilot)
Sergeant S Newman (928207) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner) Injured
Sergeant Willis Arthur Savage (1503913) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant John Albert Warner (2209337) (RAFVR) (Air 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, 166/12/58