LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Kevin Francis GROGAN
Service No: 422269
Born: Babinda QLD, 30 April 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 25 April 1942 (at Sydney NSW)
Unit: No. 115 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Witchford
Died: Air Operations: (No. 115 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ND927), Germany, 13 August 1944, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Becklingen War Cemetery, Soltau, Niedersachsen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Oliver Francis Grogan and Ella Grogan; husband of Edith Manya Grogan, of Coogee, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 123, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2143 hours on the night of 12 August 1944 Lancaster ND927 took off from Witchford detailed to bomb Braunschweig, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed at Ordinghausen, 15 kms west of Hoya and south west of Verden. Six of the crew members were killed and one taken prisoner.
The crew members of ND927 were:
Sergeant Robert Gordon Beecroft (2201738) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Albert John Chase (1323849) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant Hugh Fraser Dott (1682296) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Kevin Francis Grogan (422269) (Air Bomber)
Flying Officer Gordon Brian Hockey (422183) (Pilot) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 31 October 1945
Sergeant Donald Thomson Kennedy (1822421) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Pilot Officer Raymond Albert James McDougall (421611) (Navigator)
In a later POW Report Flying Officer Hockey stated “We were attacked from below by a night fighter when at 14,000 feet. The aircraft burst into flames immediately. I gave the order to abandon, and almost at the same time the aircraft rolled over on its back and exploded. None of the crew were able to abandon but I was blown clear and able to use my parachute (Pilot type). The aircraft crashed roughly north west of Hanover. I was informed by the German police and civilians that the rest of the crew had been killed. I was taken prisoner on 13 August 1944 and released on 2 May 1945.”
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, 166/16/403