LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Ian Eric HART
Service No: 400413
Born: Gardenvale VIC, 19 May 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 20 August 1940
Unit: No. 460 Squadron, RAF Station Breighton, Yorkshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 460 Squadron Wellington aircraft X1251), Belgium, 13 March 1942, Aged 23 Years
Buried: St Joris Communal Cemetery, Nieuwpoort, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Eric Thomas Hart and Maude Isobel Hart; husband of Mavis Hilda Hart, of Ivanhoe, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Heidelberg VIC
Remembered: Panel 107, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Wellington X1251 took off at 1934 hours on 13 March 1942 from RAF Breighton to bomb Dunkirk, France. The aircraft failed to return to base after the mission. Five aircraft of the squadron were engaged on the mission. It was later established that the aircraft crashed at St Georges near Yeser Canal, Belgium, and exploded on impact. These crew members were the first operational fatalities for No. 460 Squadron.
The crew members of X1251 were:
Sergeant Patrick Denis John Cooney (403951) (RNZAF) (Pilot)
Sergeant Ian Eric Hart (400413) (Observer)
Sergeant William Allan Pascoe (1380051) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant John Sivyer Turnock (404688) (Second Pilot)
Sergeant George Norman Winter (989226) (RAFVR) (Front Gunner)
Sergeant Jack Woodward (1359686) (RAFVR) (First Wireless Operator 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, 163/120/405
Bibliography:
Firkins, P. C. (Peter Charles) (441386) Strike and Return, Westward Ho Publishing City Beach WA, 1985