LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant James Crompton GIBNEY
Service No: 426082
Born: Cloncurry QLD, 3 December 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 23 May 1942
Unit: No. 78 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Breighton
Died: Air Operations: (No. 78 Squadron Halifax aircraft JD475), Germany, 6 September 1943, Aged 19 Years
Buried: Rheinberg War Cemetery, Kamp Lintfort, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of James and Mary Gibney, of Auchenflower, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Tewantin QLD
Remembered: Panel 122, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1946 hours on the night of 5 September 1943 Halifax JD475 took off from Breighton detailed to bomb Mannheim, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed at Lindenberg, Germany. Four of the crew members were killed and three became Prisoners of War.
The crew members of JD475 were:
Sergeant J A G Buchanan (578385) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer) PoW
Sergeant R H Caldwell (1438684) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber) PoW
Flight Sergeant James Crompton Gibney (426082) (Rear Gunner)
Flight Lieutenant Richard Theobald Hunter (79562) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant John Gustard Mein (658495) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant C Miles (1181345) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner) PoW
Flying Officer Michael William Boyes Walsh (138590) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Caldwell later reported “Owing to the front escape hatch being jammed, we had to leave by the entrance hatch. Walsh and I went down to the entrance hatch, the light had gone on. Walsh baled out and I thought I saw Sergeant Miles, but Miles said later it must have been Gibney. I told him to bale out but he told me to go first. I can’t remember any more until I came to on the ground about 3 hours later. The person I saw did not appear injured and should have had no difficulty leaving the aircraft.”
Sergeant Miles reported “Gibney was last seen by the rear escape hatch stooping down with
his helmet in hand. I was the last to leave from the front of the plane except for the pilot. The front escape hatch had been jammed. When I arrived at the rear hatch, I found Gibney. The hatch was open and flames were coming in considerably. I said you go first, and he said no you go. I baled out. He did not appear to be wounded and the aircraft was not in a spin.”
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, 166/15/107