LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Gordon Albert FRENCH
Service No: 425147
Born: Toowoomba QLD, 19 October 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 31 January 1942
Unit: No. 106 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Syerston
Died: Air Operations: (No. 106 Squadron Lancaster aircraft DV195), Germany, 11 August 1943, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Durnbach War Cemetery, Bad Tolz, Bayern, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Albert and Lucy Fanny May French, of Crows Nest, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Crows Nest QLD
Remembered: Panel 122, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2217 hours on the night of 10 August 1943 Lancaster DV195 took off from Syerston detailed to bomb Nuremburg, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed at Furth a large conglomerate in the north- western suburbs of Nuremburg about 7 kms from the city centre. All the crew members were killed.
The crew members of DV195 were:
Pilot Officer Vernon Cresswell (141549) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Gordon Albert French (425147) (Rear Gunner)
Flying Officer Aaron George William Godley (134571) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Pilot Officer Lloyd George Harris (412954) (Pilot)
Sergeant Saul Austin Roy Rosenthal (1387181) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant George William Wilson (1804275) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Gordon Wright (953453) (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, 166/14/82