LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Raymond William HILTON
Service No: 413195
Born: Tenterfield NSW, 7 May 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 16 August 1941
Unit: No. 158 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Lissett
Died: Prisoner of War – Injuries: (from the loss of No. 158 Squadron Halifax aircraft LF772 on 15 February 1944), Germany, 18 February 1944, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John George and Maude Elsie Hilton, of Young, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Young NSW
Remembered: Panel 124, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Young Soldiers Memorial Clock Tower and Memorial Boards, Young NSW
At 1746 hours on the night of 15 February 1944 Halifax LF772 took off from Lissett detailed to bomb Berlin. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft was shot down by a night fighter from 19,000 feet, crashing on fire at Ragelin, some 14 kms north west of Neuruppin. Five crew members were killed in the crash, one was fatally injured and two were taken as Prisoners of War.
The crew members of LF772 were:
Flight Sergeant John Arthur Thomas Griffith (1321616) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Pilot Officer Raymond William Hilton (413195) (Pilot) PoW, Fatally injured, Died: 18 February 1944
Sergeant John Glyn Howell (1316825) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Michael Shaun Lynch (162991) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Laurence Hector Munro (J/86125) (RCAF) (Rear Gunner) PoW
Flying Officer Ronald Runciman (130240) (RAFVR) (Navigator) PoW
Sergeant Dennis Graham Whittaker (1581406) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant George Walter Yates (1388960) (RAFVR) (Mid 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 Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/17/484
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line