LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Bernard David FINE
Service No: 419304
Born: Malvern VIC, 20 December 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 18 July 1942
Unit: No. 1654 Conversion Unit (RAF), RAF Station Wigsley
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 1654 Conversion Unit Stirling aircraft LK502), Staffordshire, 27 May 1944, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Chester (Blacon) Cemetery, Cheshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Myer and Lilian Miriam Fine, of Malvern, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Malvern VIC
Remembered: Panel 122, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2245 hours on the night of 26 May 1944, Stirling LK502 took off from Wigsley detailed for a night cross-country Bullseye flight. The duration of the flight was five and a half hours. All went well for about four hours, but the problems with the starboard engines necessitated both engine being shut down. It was then believed that rudder control was lost and the aircraft crashed at 0245 hours at Cliffe Park, Rudyard, about 3 miles west north west from Leek, Staffordshire. Four of the crew members were killed and four were injured.
The crew members of LK502 were:
Sergeant A C Brett (1767875) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer) Injured
Flight Sergeant Bernard David Fine (419304) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Charles David Howes (1814315) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flying Officer Gordon Noble Leach (159456) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant F T J Nicholls (746075) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer) Injured
Sergeant D C Watson (1322957) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber) Injured
Sergeant Harry Ward (1768223) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant G N Wise (1580499) (RAFVR) (Navigator) Injured
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, 166/13/239