LEST WE FORGET
Warrant Officer Alfred William HOWE
Service No: 429244
Born: Abermain NSW, 5 August 1911
Enlisted in the RAAF: 5 November 1942
Unit: No. 104 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 104 Squadron Liberator aircraft KK345), Adriatic Sea, 4 April 1945, Aged 33 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Richard and Anne Howe; husband of Elsie Howe, of Abermain, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 19, Column 2, Malta Memorial, Malta
Remembered: Panel 124, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1819 hours on 3 April 1945 Liberator KK345 took off from Foggia Main aerodrome, Italy, to attack the marshalling yards at Novska, Yugoslavia, 58 miles south east of Zagreb. KK345 contacted base after leaving the target and gave an estimated arrival time. Nothing further was heard from the aircraft and KK 345 did not return to base. Other crews reported seeing and aircraft catch fire in the air, explode and fall into the sea off the Yugoslavia coast. Air Sea Rescue Searches the next day found no trace of the aircraft or crew. Later post war searches along the Yugoslavia coast and islands were unsuccessful. It was later recorded that the missing crew members had lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of KK345 were:
Flight Sergeant Thomas Campbell Ackroyd (1578880) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Frank Owen George Ayres (1897726) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Arthur John Croley (1671274) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Flight Sergeant Ronald Edmondson (1567150) (RAFVR) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Sergeant John Douglas Hollick (1392798) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Warrant Officer Alfred William Howe (429244) (Wireless Operator Air)
Flight Sergeant Albert Lewis (2217372) (RAFVR) (Air 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, 166/18/697