LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant John Michael GREEN
Service No: 426337
Born: Brisbane QLD, 3 February 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 20 June 1942
Unit: No. 61 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Coningsby
Died: Air Operations: (No. 61 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ND727), Germany, 18 March 1944, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Durnbach War Cemetery, Bad Tolz, Bayern, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Michael Patrick and Mary Kate Green, of Wooloowin, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Brisbane QLD
Remembered: Panel 123, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1917 hours on the night of 18 March 1944 Lancaster ND727 took off from Coningsby detailed to bomb Frankfurt, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. A later report by a Missing Research and Enquiry team stated “the aircraft was shot down by anti-aircraft fire on the outskirts of Biegwald Forest, Frankfurt. The aircraft was completely wrecked and the fire intense.” All the crew members were killed.
The crew members of ND727 were:
Pilot Officer Leslie Cannon (161795) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant Kenneth Henry Dean (2202752) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant John Michael Green (426337) (Rear Gunner)
Flight Sergeant George James Hull (657390) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Herbert Sherliker (1183717) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant Ramon Stones (1234185) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Harold Wyrill (1432606) (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 Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/16/301