LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Richard Julian HUDSON
Service No: 403742
Born: Dubbo NSW, 9 December 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 3 March 1941
Unit: No. 156 Squadron (RAF), RAF Warboys, Cambridgeshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 156 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ED858), Germany, 25 June 1943, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of James John and Frieda Mary Hudson, of Grafton, New South Wales, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Randwick NSW
Remembered: Panel 191, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 124, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Concord War Memorial, Concord NSW
Remembered: Commonwealth Bank of Australia Honour Rolls, Sydney NSW
Lancaster ED858 of No. 156 Squadron took off from RAF Station Warboys at 2319 hours on 24 June 1943 to carry out a bombing attack on Wupertal, Germany. After take off, nothing further was heard from the aircraft which did not return to base. In a 1946 report, it was stated that ED 858 was shot down at 0125 hours local time on 25 June, 1943 at Spiel, near Titz.
The crew members of ED858 were:
Sergeant Kenneth Cyril Christopher Adams (122832) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Arnold Thomas Barlow (1314765) (RAFVR) (Bomb Aimer)
Sergeant Wilfred Stanley Brooks (1193006) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator)
Sergeant Roy Brown (1213064) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Pilot Officer Richard Julian Hudson (403742) (Pilot)
Sergeant Harold Jones (629048) (RAF) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Kenneth Richards (1356283) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper 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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/124/174
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line