LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Brian Martin JOYCE
Service No: 421598
Born: Bathurst NSW, 29 January 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 28 February 1942
Unit: No. 50 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Skellingthorpe
Died: Air Operations: (No. 50 Squadron Lancaster aircraft DV363), France, 8 July 1944, Aged 23 Years
Buried: St Sever Cemetery Extension, Rouen, Seine-Maritime, France
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Martin and Rose Agnes Margaret Joyce, of Randwick, New South Wales, Australia. B.A. (Sydney)
Roll of Honour: Sydney NSW
Remembered: Panel 124, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: University of Sydney World War II Roll of Honour, Camperdown NSW
Brother of Flight Sergeant John Anthony Joyce (424526)
At 2231 hours on the night of 7 July 1944 Lancaster DV363 took off from Skellingthorpe detailed to bomb a flying bomb depot at St Leu D’Esserent, France. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. A post war report by a Missing Research and Enquiry team stated “the aircraft crashed at 0200 hours on the 8 July 1944 in a wood, about 3 miles north east of Serifontaine, 31 miles south east of Rouen, France. All the crew members were killed.”
The crew members of DV363 were:
Sergeant Philip Hubert Bowen (1322148) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air)
Flight Sergeant Dennis Albert Davies (569444) (RAF) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Brain Martin Joyce (421598) (Air Bomber)
Flight Sergeant Dennis Marrows (1430280) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Denys George Marsden (1059533) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant George Fraser McLaurin (R/205353) (RCAF) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant George Peace (1592073) (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 Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/21/169
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line