LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Albrecht Maxwell JENSEN
Service No: 406567
Born: Kalgoorlie WA, 27 September 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 3 February 1941
Unit: No. 142 Squadron (RAF), Blida, Algeria
Died: Air Operations: (No. 142 Squadron Wellington aircraft DF691), off the Tunisian Coast, 23 February 1943, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Albrecht Eiler Jensen and Gladys Ada Jensen, of Mount Lawley, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 11, Column 1, Malta Memorial, Malta
Remembered: Panel 124, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
Wellington DF691 of 142 Squadron took off from RAF Blida at 0230 hours on 23 February 1943, to attack the docks at Bizerte, Tunisia. The ETA to the target was 0515 hours. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. Several crews saw an aircraft crash into the sea north of Bizerte, but they could not identify the aircraft. The route recommended was as follows : Base – Cape Benut – La Galite – Bizerte – La Galite – 37.30N, 0500-E – Base. All the crew lost their lives at sea and have no known graves.
The crew members of DF691 were:
Sergeant Ernest Hill (1356019) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Albrecht Maxwell Jensen (406567) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Albert Jowers (411788) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Sergeant Frank Ronald Marples (1378821) (RAFVR) (Bomb Aimer)
Pilot Officer Robert Finlay Peterson (412655) (Navigator)
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, 166/20/14
Bibliography:
Gaston, Bruce DFC (406646), Harry Horner DFC OAM (406595), Raymond Storer (406666) (Editors), Aircrew for the Duration: of and by members of RAAF EATS Courses 10, 11, 12 & 13, Gaston Horner and Storer, Nedlands WA, 1990