LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant George KILPATRICK
Service No: 433109
Born: Narrandera NSW, 19 August 1924
Enlisted in the RAAF: 25 February 1943
Unit: No. 218 Squadron (RAF), RAF Chedburgh, Suffolk
Died: Aircraft Accident: (No. 218 Squadron Lancaster aircraft NF955), Suffolk, 24 April 1945, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Cambridge City Cemetery, Cambridgeshire UK
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William James Kilpatrick and Eileen Maud Kilpatrick, of Petersham, New South Wales Australia.
Roll of Honour: Petersham NSW
Remembered: Panel 125, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Deniliquin Cenotaph and Lone Pine Memorial, Deniliquin NSW
Remembered: Moree War Memorial Hall – World War II Honour Rolls, Moree NSW
Lancaster NF955 took off from RAF Chedburgh at 0700 hours on the 24th April 1945, detailed to bomb railway yards at Bad Oldesloe. As the aircraft became airborne on take off, the starboard engines faltered and lost power. With its air speed decaying by the second, the aircraft staggered across the airfield and crashed at 0701 into a hedgerow near the WAAF site and close to the Bury St Edmunds to Haverill road. For the next 30 seconds explosions rent the air before the flames were extinguished and what remained of the bomb load was made safe. The seven crew members on board were killed.
The crew members of NF955 were:
Flight Sergeant Harold Keith Harper (1583408) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Flight Lieutenant Robert Lance Jenyns (17332) (Pilot)
Pilot Officer Clifford Jolly (197085) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flight Sergeant George Kilpatrick (433109) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Frederick Anthony Morris (197384) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Warrant Officer Peter Maurice Nicholls (1318567) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Flight Sergeant Henry Ronald Williams (1613184) (RAFVR) (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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/22/488
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line