LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Charles Clifford HILL
Service No: 418123
Born: Lethbridge, Canada, 28 September 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 25 April 1942 (at Melbourne VIC)
Unit: No 142 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 142 Squadron Wellington aircraft LP189), Bulgaria, 10 August 1944, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Sofia War Cemetery, Bulgaria (reinterred)
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Cecil Henry and Marion Champlin Hill, of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Roll of Honour: Melbourne VIC
Remembered: Panel 124, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On the night of 9 August 1944 Wellington LP189 took off detailed to bomb the American Oil Refineries at Ploesti, Romania. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. Three other aircraft on the same mission failed to return. A 1945 report by an Allied Control Commission in Bulgaria stated that “On 10 August 1944 a British 2 engine plane exploded in the air in the village of Dolnolinevo in the district of Lom. The remains of the five British airmen on board were found buried on the spot.”
The crew members of LP189 were:
Flight Sergeant William Grisdale (1022033) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air)
Pilot Officer Charles Clifford Hill (418123) (Pilot)
Pilot Officer Gerald Randolph Pond (J/89871) (RCAF) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Peter August Shepherd (1393385) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Robert Thurlow (426784) (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 Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A9300 HILL C G