LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Colin Courtland GODLEY
Service No: 413370
Born: Hobart TAS, 31 December 1912
Enlisted in the RAAF: 17 August 1941 (at Sydney NSW)
Unit: No. 61 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Syerston
Died: Air Operations: (No. 61 Squadron Lancaster aircraft JA873), Germany, 3 August 1943, Aged 30 Years
Buried: Becklingen War Cemetery, Soltau, Niedersachsen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William and Mary Theresa Godley, of Five Dock, New South Wales, Australia. C.I.A., A.I.S.
Roll of Honour: Kingsford NSW
Remembered: Panel 122, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2316 hours on the night of 2 August 1943 Lancaster JA873 took off from Syerston detailed to bomb Hamburg, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. A Missing Research and Enquiry team later reported “the aircraft was attacked by an enemy plane and crashed at Wohlenbuttel, Germany.” All the crew members were killed.
The crew members of JA873 were:
Sergeant Walter Frederick Ardron (1379537) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Robert Horace Burn (1388532) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Flying Officer Basil John Fox (132146) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Flying Officer Colin Courtland Godley (413370) (Second Pilot)
Sergeant William McKinlay Grant (1026588) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Pilot Officer Tony Angelo Holman (149902) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Lieutenant Brian McMenamen Laing (127911) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant Sidney Harold Mortimer (515976) (RAF) (Rear 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, 166/16/142