LEST WE FORGET

Warrant Officer Robert Douglas GILL

Service No: 417360
Born: Clarence Park SA, 21 May 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 25 April 1942
Unit: No. 626 Squadron (RAF), RAF Wickenby, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations (No. 626 Squadron Lancaster aircraft NF907), North Sea, 18 February 1945, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Douglas G. and Katherine Christina Gill, of Plympton, South Australia
Roll of Honour: Glenelg SA
Remembered: Panel 283, Runnymede memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 122, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide

Lancaster NF907 of No. 626 Squadron took off from RAF Station Wickenby at 1735 hours on 18 February 1945 to carry a mining operation over the target “Rosemary” in the Kattegat area. Nothing further was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. In 1949 it was reported that all efforts to find any trace of the aircraft and crew had been unsuccessful, and the crew had been recorded as missing lost at sea.

The crew members of NF907 were:

Sergeant Reginald Francis Edwards (3050372) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant Thomas William Gascoigne (1516668) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Warrant Officer Robert Douglas Gill (417360) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Sergeant Edward Harrison (2221713) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flying Officer Kenneth George Hollaway (418276) (Pilot)
Sergeant Derek William Hughes (1881602) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Flight Sergeant John Thomas Jones (1800039) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)

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, 166/15/419

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