LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Alan Berkeley FITZHARDINGE
Service No: 424293
Born: Ashfield NSW, 8 August 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 17 August 1942
Unit: No. 50 Squadron (RAF), RAF Skellingthorpe, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 50 Squadron Lancaster aircraft PD346), Germany, 1 February 1945, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Rheinberg War Cemetery, Kamp Lintfort, Nordrhein-Westfal, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Arthur Harrie Berkeley Fitzhardinge and Bessie Fitzhardinge, of Bellevue Hill, New South Wales, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Sydney NSW
Remembered: Panel 122, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: University of Sydney World War II Roll of Honour, Camperdown NSW
Lancaster PD346 took off from RAF Skellingthorpe at 1638 hours on the night of 1 February 1945 detailed to bomb Siegen, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed into wooded hillside near Ehrenstein about 50 kms south east of Siegen. Five of the crew members were killed and two became Prisoners of War.
The crew members of PD346 were:
Sergeant C E Atkins (1675910) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner) PoW
Flying Officer Charles Ridley Fairbairn DFC (419988) (Pilot)
Flying Officer Alan Berkeley Fitzhardinge (424293) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant N G Jones (1852150) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner) PoW
Flying Officer John Stanley Edward Locock (154080) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Jack Pannett (1592609) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Warrant Officer Barry Sydney Smith (424471) (Air Bomber)
In a later report Sergeant Atkins stated: “the aircraft crashed 30 miles south east of Siegen.
Met the Mid Upper Gunner at the reception centre. The other five crew members were killed.”
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, 166/13/393
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line