LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Neil Malcolm HARDY
Service No: 404903
Born: Mackay QLD, 5 December 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 6 December 1940
Unit: No. 50 Squadron (RAF), RAF Swinderby, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 50 Squadron Lancaster aircraft L 728), Germany, 26 June 1942, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Becklingen War Cemetery, Soltau, Niedersachsen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of George Malcolm and Olive Ruth Hardy, of Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Toowoomba QLD
Remembered: Panel 123, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Lancaster L 728 took off from RAF Swinderby at 2320 hours on the night of 25/26th June 1942 detailed to bomb Bremen, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. Captured German documents revealed that the aircraft was shot down at 0200 hours on 26 June 1942 and crashed near Bremen. All crew members were killed.
The crew members of L 728 Were:
Sergeant Neil Malcolm Hardy (404903) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Robert Leslie Hugall (406318) (Navigator)
Sergeant Edgar Griffiths Johnson (403813) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant James William Lindsay (403194) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Jasper Stormond Peters (12419) (Second Pilot)
Sergeant John Charles Roy (41361) (RNZAF) (Pilot)
Sergeant Lawrence Chase Thompson (402622) (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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/120/498