LEST WE FORGET

Pilot Officer Albert Elliott HORNE DFM

Service No: 402461
Born: Sydney NSW, 6 December 1912
Enlisted in the RAAF: 19 August 1940
Unit: No. 408 Squadron (RCAF), RAF Station Leeming
Awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal (DFM), 20April 1943
Died: Air Operations: (No. 408 Squadron Halifax aircraft JB931), off the Dutch Coast, 14 May 1943, Aged 30 Years
Buried: Flushing (Vlissingen) Northern Cemetery, Zeeland, Netherlands
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Marcus and Celia Horne, of Hurlstone Park, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Hurlston Park NSW
Remembered: Panel 133, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: The Great Synagogue World War 2 Roll of Honour, Sydney NSW
Remembered: The Great Synagogue Roll of Honour Book, Sydney BSW

DFM Citation: “On the 14th February 1943, Flight Sergeant Horne (then serving with No. 405 Squadron (RCAF)) was the mid upper gunner of a Halifax aircraft which was engaged by two enemy JU88’s when carrying out an antisubmarine patrol. Our aircraft had sighted an enemy convoy and was shadowing it when attacked by the two enemy aircraft and in the ensuing action, one of the JU88s was definitely destroyed while the remaining one was damaged and probably destroyed. Despite the several attacks of the enemy, this gunner coolly put up a stout defence while
under fire and by expert gunnery made a valuable contribution to the success of the encounter. This Non-Commissioned Officer has always displayed untiring devotion to duty in all the operations in which he has participated.” (London Gazette 20th April 1943)

At 2347 hours on the night of 13/14th May 1943, Halifax JB931 took off from RAF Leeming detailed to bomb Bochum, Germany. When outbound at 11,300 feet, the aircraft was shot down by a night fighter, and crashed into the sea off the Dutch coast. Four of the crew members were killed, and three became Prisoners of War.

The crew members of JB931 were:

Squadron Leader Halan Donald Richard Leroy Campbell DFC (87059) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Pilot Officer M J H Hammill (130409) (RAFVR) PoW
Sergeant John McLaren Harrison (R/70275) (RCAF) (Flight Engineer)
Pilot Officer Albert Elliott Horne DFM (402461) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant A C Ross (938849) (RAFVR) PoW
Pilot Officer Lloyd Albert Stinson (J/17695) (RCAF) (Air Gunner)
Flying Officer A W Thompson (J/12987) (RCAF) PoW

In a joint PoW statement Flying Officer Thompson and Pilot Officer Hammill said “owing to enemy action we were ordered to abandon the aircraft by chute. The following morning I identified Squadron Leader Campbell’s body found in the water near Flushing. The Germans said that the bodies of both Stinson and Horne were found in the wreck of the aircraft, and that Harrison’s body was found in the water along with Campbell’s body.”

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, 166/18/86
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line

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