LEST WE FORGET

Flying Officer Keith Ross HOLLAND DFC

Service No: 410234
Born: Wentworth NSW, 24 September 1924
Enlisted in the RAAF: 5 December 1941 (at Melbourne VIC)
Unit: No. 540 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Benson, Oxfordshire
Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), 7 March 1944
Died: Air Operations: (No. 540 Squadron Mosquito aircraft NS654), Germany, 27 October 1944, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Heverlee War Cemetery, Vlaams-Brabant, Belgium
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Herbert George and Ada Elspeth Holland, of Mildura, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Curlwaa NSW
Remembered: Panel 124, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT

DFC Citation: This officer has completed numerous sorties and has displayed courage and determination of a high order. (London Gazette 7 March 1944, page 1119)

At 1045 hours on 27 October 1944, Mosquito NS654 took off from Benson detailed to carry out a photo reconnaissance in the Stettin and Berlin area. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft was shot down and crashed at Steinfeld, near Warnemuende, and the crew was killed.

The crew members of NS654 were:

Flying Officer Geoffrey John Bloomfield (151271) (RAFVR) (Navigator/Wireless)
Flying Officer Keith Ross Holland DFC (410234) (Pilot)

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, 166/18/501

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