LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant Robert Lance JENYNS
Service No: 17332
Born: Perth WA, 8 September 1916
Enlisted in the RAAF: 13 July 1940
Unit: No. 218 Squadron (RAF), RAF Chedburgh, Suffolk
Died: Aircraft Accident: (No. 218 Squadron Lancaster aircraft NF955), Suffolk, 24 April 1945, Aged 28 Years
Buried: Cambridge City Cemetery, Cambridgeshire UK
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Horace Robert Walter and Hilda Mary Jenyns, of South Perth, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Perth WA
Remembered: Panel 124, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
Remembered: Honour Avenues, Kings Park WA
Lancaster NF955 took off from RAF Chedburgh at 0700 hours on 24 April 1945, detailed to bomb railway yards at Bad Oldesloe. As the aircraft became airborne on take off, the starboard engines faltered and lost power. With its air speed decaying by the second, the aircraft staggered across the airfield and crashed at 0701 into a hedgerow near the WAAF site and close to the Bury St Edmunds to Haverill road. For the next 30 seconds explosions rent the air before the flames were extinguished and what remained of the bomb load was made safe. The seven crew members on board were killed.
The crew members of NF955 were:
Flight Sergeant Harold Keith Harper (1583408) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Flight Lieutenant Robert Lance Jenyns (17332) (Pilot)
Pilot Officer Clifford Jolly (197085) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flight Sergeant George Kilpatrick (433109) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Frederick Anthony Morris (197384) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Warrant Officer Peter Maurice Nicholls (1318567) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Flight Sergeant Henry Ronald Williams (1613184) (RAFVR) (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, 166/20/266