LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Max Harvey FOSTER
Service No: 410649
Born: Lismore VIC, 6 April 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 31 January 1942
Unit: No. 166 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Kirmington
Died: Air Operations: (No. 166 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ME627), Germany, 20 February 1944, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Edgar Charles and Rita Laura Foster, of Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Hawthorn VIC
Remembered: Panel 122, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Lancaster ME627 took off from RAF Kirmington at 2350 hours on the night of 19/20 February 1944, detailed to bomb Leipzig, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. A Missing Research and Enquiry team reported later: “The aircraft exploded in the air and crashed in the town of Markranstaet, which is approximately 7 miles south west of Leipzig. All the crew members were killed.”
The crew members of ME627 were:
Sergeant Albert Ronald Bailey (1603676) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant George McNeill Campbell (1342122) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Desmond John Dennehy (1605654) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Max Harvey Foster (410649) (Observer)
Sergeant Stanley Robert George Gardiner (1446552) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Roy Albert Kingston (420817) (Pilot)
Sergeant Roy Victor Mercer (1801225) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
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, 166/14/164