LEST WE FORGET

Flying Officer Frank Sidney HAWKES

Service No: 423287
Born: Newton NSW, 26 June 1911
Enlisted in the RAAF: 20 June 1942
Unit: No. 97 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Coningsby
Died: Air Operations: (No. 97 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ND807, off the Danish Coast, 27 August 1944, Aged 33 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Albert Silas Hawkes and Violet May Hawkes; husband of Jean Florence Hawkes, of Blakehurst, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Hurstville NSW
Remembered: Panel 257, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 123, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT

On 27 August 1944 Lancaster ND807 took off from Coningsby for operations against Konigsberg,
Germany. Nothing further was heard from the aircraft after take off which did not return to base. In a 1946 report it was established that the aircraft crashed into the sea between Sejero and Sjaelland and that only one crew member survived and was taken prisoner.

The crew members of ND807 were:

Sergeant James Bell (1796420) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Pilot Officer William Stewart Bryans (J/89271) (RCAF) (Second Air Bomber)
Flying Officer Frank Sidney Hawkes (423287) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Noel Richard Keys (426617) (Wireless Operator Air)
Flying Officer Thomas Neil McCurdy (410669) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Trefor Roebeck Glandon Owen (652199) (RAF) (Mid Upper Gunner) Remains recovered
Pilot Officer Max Stern (J/85923) (RCAF) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant R Swolf (502136) (RAF) (Rear Gunner) PoW

In a later statement Sergeant Swolf reported “Flight Sergeant Owen (RAF) baled out before me. The remaining six of the crew were still in the aircraft when I left. The aircraft crashed in the sea 10 miles off the Danish coast. Swolf presumed that the six crew members either blew up with the aircraft or drowned.”

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, 166/17/717

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