LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Kenneth William KERMODE
Service No: 402363
Born: Walcha NSW, 9 March 1914
Enlisted in the RAAF: 19 August 1940
Unit: No. 59 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station North Cotes
Died: Air Operations: (No. 59 Squadron Hudson aircraft V9163), North Sea, 11 May 1942, Aged 28 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John and Hannah Lillias Kermode, of Walcha, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Walcha NSW
Remembered: Panel 111, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 125, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Walcha War Memorial Cenotaph, Walcha NSW
At 1145 hours on 11 May 1942 Hudson V9163 took off from North Cotes to carry out a strike against enemy shipping off the Dutch coast. V9163 was accompanied by two other squadron aircraft. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it did not return to base. The aircraft was lost and the four crew members were killed.
The crew members of V9163 were:
Flight Sergeant Patrick Joseph Donaghy (6501) (Observer)
Sergeant Knox William Heggaton (402924) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Sergeant Kenneth William Kermode (402363) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Chandos Scouller (402674) (Pilot)
Following post war enquiries and investigations, it was established that Flight Sergeant Scouller’s body was washed ashore on the Island of Heligoland. German documents also confirmed that the remains of Flight Sergeant Donaghy and Sergeant Heggaton were recovered from the sea, but the location of their graves could not be established.
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 A9301, 402363
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line