LEST WE FORGET

Flight Sergeant Henry John KROHN

Service No: 34017
Born: Lithgow NSW, 30 September 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 30 September 1940
Unit: No. 35 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Graveley
Died: Air Operations: (No. 35 Squadron Halifax aircraft HR799), Germany, 22 June 1943, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Jonkerbos War Cemetery, Gelderland, Netherlands
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Arthur Francis and Evelyn Clarice Krohn, of Gilgandra, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Gilgandra NSW
Remembered: Panel 125, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Gilgandra War Memorial, Gilgandra NSW

At 2312 hours on the night of 21 June 1943Halifax HR799 took off from Graveley to bomb Krefeld, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft and it failed to return to base. It was later established that the aircraft was shot down by a night fighter and crashed at 0134 hours at the hamlet of Valkenberg (Limburg) near Klein-Oirlo, 7 kms south east of Venray, Netherlands. Two crew members had been killed and six were Prisoners of War.

The crew members of HR799 were:

Pilot Officer William Gordon Leslie Brown (155006) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer P N Croft (148840) (RAFVR) (Bomb Aimer) PoW
Sergeant J F Dowling (1258822) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner) PoW
Sergeant J H Graham (R/92579) (RCAF) (Wireless Air Gunner) PoW
Flying Officer W H Hickson (412231) (RNZAF) (Pilot) PoW
Flight Sergeant D H Hutchinson (R/137936) (RCAF) (Navigator) PoW
Flight Sergeant Henry John Krohn (34017) (Second Pilot)
Sergeant F S Maltas (1033029) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer) PoW

Flying Officer Hickson later reported “I was Captain of an aircraft on the night of 21/22 June 1943 and the aircraft encountered enemy opposition and was set on fire over enemy territory. I ordered abandon Aircraft and saw Flight Sergeant Krohn go past me to bale out. I was later informed by civilians that his body was found on the ground.”

Flight Sergeant Hutchison stated “Krohn the second pilot was seen out of the Aircraft by the bomb aimer immediately after my own exit while the aircraft was on fire and more or less under control. According to information from farmers who claimed to have witnessed the landing of an Australian airman in the vicinity of the crash and where I and Croft landed, Krohn’s chute was open but he had been shot dead through the head and I presumed this to be Krohn as the only Australian member in the crew.”

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, 166/23/16
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line

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