LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Lyle Anzac LAWSON
Service No: 414243
Born: Murwillumbah NSW, 12 December 1915
Enlisted in the RAAF: 17 August 1941 (at Brisbane QLD)
Unit: No. 614 Squadron (RAF), Celone, Italy
Died: Air Operations: (No. 614 Squadron Halifax aircraft BB446), Bulgaria, 16 March 1944, Aged 27 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Percival and Shirley Lawson; husband of Merle Winifred Lawson, of Tamworth, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 16, Column 1, Malta Memorial, Malta
Remembered: Panel 125, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2255 hours on 15 March 1944 Halifax BB446 took off from Celone to carry out an attack on the Sofia marshalling yards, Bulgaria. Nothing further was heard from the aircraft after take-off, and it did not return to base. No 205 Group aircraft operating against the same target reported seeing an aircraft shot down in the target area, and also that no parachutes were seen going down. As BB446 was the only aircraft which could not be accounted for after the mission, it was assumed that the aircraft was shot down in the target area. In 1948 it was reported that following investigation and enquiries in the Sofia area, no trace of the aircraft or crew could be found. The crew were recorded as having no known graves.
The crew members of BB446 were:
Warrant Officer Vivian Dickson (405905) (Air Bomber)
Pilot Officer Lyle Anzac Lawson (414243) (Pilot)
Sergeant David John Lewis (1583102) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant David Roland Williams (1740034) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant James Martin Withers (1318127) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Frederick Henry Worthington (952045) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
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, 166/24/399