LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Frank Bryce HAWKINS
Service No: 407287
Born: Strathalbyn SA, 19 June 1914
Enlisted in the RAAF: 17 August 1940
Unit: No. 207 Squadron (RAF), RAF Langar, Nottinghamshire
Died: Air Operations (No. 207 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ED533), off the French Coast, 2 March 1943, Aged 28 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Mavis Maureen Hawkins, and stepson of A. G. Hawkins, of Croydon, South Australia
Roll of Honour: Hindmarsh SA
Remembered: Panel 188, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 123, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
Lancaster ED533 of No. 207 Squadron took off from RAF Station Langar at 1833 hours on 2 March 1943 carrying three mines for a mining sortie on Deodar, France. The aircraft failed to return to base. No distress signals were heard, and from other aircraft which took part in the raid, visibility over the target was normal with slight haze. There were practically no defences and the anti-aircraft fire was very light. Deodar is at the mouth of the Gironde River near Bordeaux. As crew member’s body (Sergeant Brown) was later washed ashore at Biarritz on the south west coast of France about 160 kms south west of Bordeaux, it being concluded that the other six crew members had been lost at sea.
The crew members of ED533 were:
Pilot Officer George Alexander Bisset (127013) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Richard Brown (944643) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flying Officer Frank Bryce Hawkins (407287) (Gunner)
Sergeant Ralph Isaacs (656562) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant Kenneth George Peters (1287050) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant William Oliver Shelley (1378962) (RAF) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Sergeant John Walter Webster (1320839) (RAFVR) (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, 166/17/62