LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant John Stephen HUGGARD
Service No: 35488
Born: Parkes NSW, 28 January 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 13 March 1941
Unit: No. 12 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Wickenby
Died: Air Operations: (No. 12 Squadron Lancaster aircraft W4954), Poland, 29 April 1943, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Poznan Old Garrison Cemetery, Poland
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John Eager Huggard and Honora Teresa Huggard, of Parkes, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Parkes NSW
Remembered: Panel 124, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Parkes R.S.L. Roll of Honour, Parkes NSW
Lancaster W4954 took off from Wickenby at 2136 hours on the night of 28 April 1943 for gardening (mine laying) operations in the Spinach region of the Baltic Sea. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. A 1949 report by a Missing Research & Enquiry Unit stated “The aircraft crashed on Wollin Island (Poland) and the remains of all the crew were buried by the Germans in the Swindermunde Cemetery on Usedom Island which is close to Wollin Island”. The remains were later reinterred at Poznan.
The crew members of W4954 were:
Flight Lieutenant Ronald Hugh Ashton (41814) (RAF) (Pilot)
Sergeant Edwin George Buscombe (1317349) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Arthur Goodhand (1101483) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant John Stephen Huggard (35488) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant Peter Lees (1578183) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant John Mackintosh (1430161) (RAFVR) (Bomb Aimer)
Sergeant Maurice Savage (1080386) (RAFVR) (Wireless 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, 166/18/76
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line