LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Francis Alexander Kevin GALLAGHER
Service No: 403464
Born: Guyra NSW, 18 February 1914
Enlisted in the RAAF: 6 January 1941
Unit: No. 207 Squadron (RAF), RAF Langar, Nottinghamshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 207 Squadron Lancaster aircraft W4365), Germany, 21 January 1943, Aged 28 Years
Buried: Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Kleve, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of George Patrick and Margaret Jane Gallagher, of Guyra, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Guyra NSW
Remembered: Panel 122, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Lancaster W4365 took off from RAF Langar at 1729 hours on the night of 21/22nd January 1943, detailed to bomb Essen, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft was lost and all the crew members were killed.
The crew members of W4365 were:
Sergeant John Charles Dangerfield (407965) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Raymond De Champfleur Darken (411096) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Sergeant Francis Alexander Kevin Gallagher (403464) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant John Thompson Howe (1149218) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant John Roger Lawrence Sterrett (R/140746) (RCAF) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant Alexander Robert Sutton (1324003) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Victor Jack Wood (1280220) (RAFVR) (Wireless 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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/15/7