LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Graham Harris JOSEPH
Service No: 400415
Born: Windsor VIC, 2 April 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 20 August 1940
Unit: No. 467 Squadron, RAF Station Bottesford, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 467 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ED737), Germany, 17 June 1943, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Rheinberg War Cemetery, Kamp Lintfort, Nordrhein-Westfal, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Clifton Hyman Joseph and Vera Rachael Joseph, of Armadale, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Melbourne VIC
Remembered: Panel 111, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Date: 16-17 June 1943
Target: Cologne
Total Force: Dispatched – 212, Attacking – 179
RAAF Force: No. 460 Dispatched – 18, Attacking – 15; No. 467 Dispatched – 11, Attacking – 10
Tons of Bombs Dropped: 656
Total Aircraft Lost: 15
RAAF Aircraft Lost: No. 460 – 1; No. 467 – 1
The table does not include the loss of No. 460 Squadron Lancaster W5007 (Flight Sergeant Neville Oliver Boyd Flitcroft (414549) (Air Gunner)) on return to the UK.
Cologne, third largest city of Germany, had almost entirely recovered from the experimental mass raid of May 1942, when four more attacks were made to round off the Ruhr campaign.
For the first of these attacks (16-17 June 1943) towering clouds and icing conditions were prevalent. The Pathfinders were late and the sky markers were scattered over a wide area. The main force itself was disorganised by the bad flying conditions, the confused aiming points, and the presence of very determined enemy fighters; few hopes were expressed of any worthwhile result.
Extracts from Herington, J. (John) (406545) Air War Against Germany and Italy 1939-1943, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1954 – Pages 491, 492
Lancaster ED737 took off from RAF Bottesford at 2215 hours on the night of 16/17th June 1943 to bomb Cologne, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. Eleven aircraft from the Squadron took part in the mission and one of these ED737 failed to return. A post war report by a Missing Research and Enquiry Team stated that an aircraft between 1am and 2am was on fire in mid air and exploded crashing on houses in the village of Oberkruechten, and that several civilians had been killed. The aircraft carried no bombs and the wreck had been removed by the Germans.
The crew members of ED737 were:
Flight Sergeant John Everard Binnie DFM (414290) (Pilot) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 25 October 1945
Sergeant Earl Verdun Doan (R/137269) (RCAF) (Mid Upper Gunner) PoW
Sergeant Richard Lewis Godden (658613) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Flying Officer Graham Harris Joseph (400415) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Sergeant Eric Lancake (619116) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner) PoW
Flying Officer Arthur Smith (120028) (RAFVR) (Second Pilot)
Sergeant Kenneth Murfin Taylor (1237051) (RAFVR) (Bomb Aimer)
Sergeant Neil Mackintosh Turnbull (649185) (RAF) (Flight Engineer)
In a report Flight Sergeant Binnie stated “The aircraft was attacked at 12.53am on 17 June 1943 from below by a night fighter. The first burst set certain of the engines on fire and killed the Bomb Aimer. After the second burst the aircraft began to get out of control and the intercom was U/S. I gave the abandon order but that was not acknowledged. Two members of the crew had baled out at 20,000 feet and then the hatch jammed and the remainder of the crew was unable to bale out. Finally the aircraft blew up and I was blown clear.”
No. 460 Squadron lost Lancaster W4332 (Flight Sergeant Frank Gale Phillips (412338) (Pilot)) on 16 June 1943.
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, 166/21/41