LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Robert Albert KERR
Service No: 409144
Born: Middle Brighton VIC, 2 July 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 19 July 1941
Unit: No. 214 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Chedburgh
Died: Air Operations: (No. 214 Squadron Stirling aircraft BK659), North Sea, 26 May 1943, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Charles Patrick and Mabel Annie Kerr, of Middle Brighton, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 193, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 125, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 0004 hours on 26 May 1943 Stirling BK659 took off from Chedburgh, Suffolk to bomb Dusseldorf, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. The body of Sergeant Pooley was later washed ashore on Wangerooge Island.
The crew members of BK659 were:
Sergeant Ronald Sydney Blake (1220818) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Sergeant Gwynn Towyn Davies (1314365) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Brian McMahon Jubb (1315154) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Robert Albert Kerr (409144) (Pilot)
Sergeant Denys Littlewood (1670565) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Ronald Paisley (127105) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Frank Henry Edward Pooley (1456718) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
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, 166/22/70