LEST WE FORGET
Warrant Officer Ellis Wilby HEMSWORTH
Service No: 423730
Born: Sheffield, England, 30 September 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 18 July 1942 (at Sydney NSW)
Unit: No. 582 Squadron (RAF), RAF Little Staughton, Bedfordshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 582 Squadron Lancaster aircraft PB 475), Buckinghamshire, 6 March 1945, Aged 21Years
Buried: Oxford (Botley) Cemetery, Oxfordshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Harold Edward and Margaret Jones Hemsworth, of Five Dock, New South Wales, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Sydney NSW
Remembered: Panel 123, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Five Dock War Memorial, Five Dock NSW
Remembered: Avalon RSL Cenotaph, Avalon NSW
On the night of 5 March 1945, Lancaster PB 475 took off from RAF Little Staughton at 1733 hours, detailed to bomb Chemnitz, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it m failed to return to base. When homebound, the aircraft crashed at 0100 hours on the 6th March 1945, near Bellingdon, some two miles north west from Chesham, Buckinghamshire. Six of the
crew were killed, and Sergeant Hart managed to parachute to safety. A report into the flying accident stated: “The cause of the accident was due to a target indicator that had failed to release, exploded in the bomb bay when the aircraft was in flight.”
The crew members of PB 475 were:
Flight Sergeant Ross Frederick Barnett (417794) (Navigator)
Sergeant Arnold Denbigh (1588726) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flying Officer John Charles Gould (177586) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant W Hart (1860300) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner) Baled out, Safe
Warrant Officer Ellis Wilby Hemsworth (423730) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Gerald John Price Ralph (1811907) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Warrant Officer Glen Torr (417533) (Air Bomber)
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, 166/17/1072
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line