LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant James Darien HENNING
Service No: 403869
Born: Sydney NSW, 3 February 1915
Enlisted in the RAAF: 4 March 1941
Unit: No. 14 Operational Training Unit (RAF), Detachment RAF Station Saltby, Leicestershire
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 14 Operational Training Unit Hampden aircraft L4133), Leicestershire, 6 June 1942, Aged 27 Years
Buried: Cottesmore (St Nicholas) Churchyard Extension, Rutland
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Henry Herbert and Amy Ethel Henning, of Pymble New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Sydney NSW
Remembered: Panel 123, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Ku-ring-gai World War II Book of Remembrance, Gordon NSW
On the afternoon of 6 June 1942 Hampden L4133 took off from RAF Saltby for flying practice. During the practice flying speed was lost and around 1345 hours the aircraft spun into the ground some 2 miles east of the airfield at Mere Bam, South Stoke, practically on the Leicestershire border with Lincolnshire. All the crew members were killed.
The crew members of L4133 were:
Pilot Officer Richard Henry Broadley (119833) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant Ronald Leslie Norris (1375126) (RAFVR) (Observer)
Sergeant James Darien Henning (403869) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Horace George Thurgar (1266088) (RAFVR) (Observer)
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, 163/121/183
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line