LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Nathaniel Robert GYLES
Service No: 401236
Born: Moonee Ponds VIC, 6 December 1917
Enlisted in the RAAF: 5 January 1941
Unit: No. 61 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Syerston
Died: Air Operations: (No. 61 Squadron Lancaster aircraft W4989), off Denmark, 28 April 1943, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Harry John Willmott Gyles and Eva Gyles, of Moonee Ponds, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Essendon VIC
Remembered: Panel 191, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 123, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2036 hours on the night of 28 April 1943 Lancaster W4989 took off from Syerston for mine-laying operations in the Verbena area. Nothing further was heard from the aircraft or crew after take-off. Pilots of other aircraft on similar missions reported a straight forward trip with occasional anti-aircraft fire. Patches of dirty weather were encountered. Two bodies were later washed ashore and it was assumed that the other five crew members were lost at sea.
The crew members of W4989 were:
Sergeant Arthur William Bond (1031892) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Warrant Officer Michael De Beauchamp Collenette (742200) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Pilot Officer Nathaniel Robert Gyles (401236) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Reginald Donovan Mix (J/17075) (RCAF) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Franklin Guy Moore (R/119531) (RCAF) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Jack Norman (541519) (RAF) (Flight Engineer)
Pilot Officer Ian Ronald Robertson (404657) (Navigator)
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, 166/16/67