LEST WE FORGET

Flight Sergeant Noel Richard KEYS

Service No: 426617
Born: Dalby QLD, 29 January 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 18 July 1942
Unit: No. 97 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Coningsby
Died: Air Operations: (No. 97 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ND807, off the Danish Coast, 27 August 1944, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Charles Philp Keys and Lily Jane Gifford Keys, of Dalby, Queensland, Australia. Scoutmaster
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 261, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 125, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT

On 27 August 1944 Lancaster ND807 took off from Coningsby for operations against Konigsberg,
Germany. Nothing further was heard from the aircraft after take off which did not return to base. In a 1946 report it was established that the aircraft crashed into the sea between Sejero and Sjaelland and that only one crew member survived and was taken prisoner.

The crew members of ND807 were:

Sergeant James Bell (1796420) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Pilot Officer William Stewart Bryans (J/89271) (RCAF) (Second Air Bomber)
Flying Officer Frank Sidney Hawkes (423287) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Noel Richard Keys (426617) (Wireless Operator Air)
Flying Officer Thomas Neil McCurdy (410669) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Trefor Roebeck Glandon Owen (652199) (RAF) (Mid Upper Gunner) Remains recovered
Pilot Officer Max Stern (J/85923) (RCAF) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant R Swolf (502136) (RAF) (Rear Gunner) PoW

In a later statement Sergeant Swolf reported “Flight Sergeant Owen (RAF) baled out before me. The remaining six of the crew were still in the aircraft when I left. The aircraft crashed in the sea 10 miles off the Danish coast. Swolf presumed that the six crew members either blew up with the aircraft or drowned.”

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, 426617

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