LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Stanley Charles KITCHEN
Service No: 410347
Born: Ballarat East VIC, 5 July 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 6 December 1941
Unit: No. 57 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station East Kirkby
Died: Air Operations: (No. 57 Squadron Lancaster aircraft JB320), Germany, 22 October 1943, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Hanover War Cemetery, Niedersachsen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Stanley and Viola Martha Kitchen, of East Malvern, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Malvern VIC
Remembered: Panel 125, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1812 hours on the night of 22 October 1943 Lancaster JB320 took off from East Kirkby detailed to bomb Kassel, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed at Acker, 800 metres south of Dransfeld, and all the crew members were killed.
The crew members of JB320 were:
Pilot Officer Philippe Emmanuel Camille (155127) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Richard Chambers (942459) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Thomas James Colston (1317783) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Flight Sergeant Stanley Charles Kitchen (410347) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant Charles Lewis Manuel (1691966) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant William James Bryden McNaught (1366992) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer David Miller (156958) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
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, 166/22/132