LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer William Desmond KELLY
Service No: 426438
Born: Brisbane QLD, 24 May 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 22 June 1942
Unit: No. 189 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Fulbeck
Died: Air Operations: (No. 189 Squadron Lancaster aircraft PB840), Germany, 2 February 1945, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Durnbach War Cemetery, Bad Tolz, Bayern, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William and Kathleen Mary Kelly, of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Brisbane QLD
Remembered: Panel 125, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2018 hours on 2 February 1945 Lancaster PB840 took off from Fulbeck detailed to bomb Karlsruhe, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. A Missing Research and Enquiry team later reported: “the aircraft crashed at Unterowisheim on 2 February 1945.” Six of the crew members had been killed and one had become a Prisoner of War.
The crew members of PB840 were:
Sergeant R F Dyson GM (RAF) (Rear Gunner) PoW
Flight Sergeant Frank Albert Fox (1394187) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Warrant Officer James Harold Grubb (414563) (RNZAF) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant John Howarth (807287) (RAF (Auxiliary Air Force)) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant Anthony Langford James (1801848) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Flying Officer William Desmond Kelly (426438) (Pilot)
Flying Officer Roger Jack Webb (J/37739) (RCAF) (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 Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/22/2422