LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Kenneth Laurence William LAY
Service No: 408724
Born: North Carlton VIC, 9 August 1917
Enlisted in the RAAF: 22 May 1941
Unit: No. 156 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Warboys
Died: Air Operations: (No. 156 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ED935), North Sea, 12 June 1943, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William George and Agnes Marion Lay, of Carlton, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Melbourne VIC
Remembered: Panel 193, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 125, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2338 hours on the night of 11 June 1943 Lancaster ED935 took off from Warboys detailed to bomb Munster, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it did not return to base. The aircraft crashed in the Ijesselmeer and all the crew members were killed.
The crew members of ED935 were:
Sergeant Donald Compton Bauman (1320428) (RAFVR) (Bomb Aimer)
Pilot Officer Robert Maxwell Bryant (411748) (Navigator Bomb Aimer) Remains recovered
Flying Officer John Albert Cowley DFM (120216) (RAFVR) (Second Pilot) Remains recovered
Sergeant John Richard Curtis (1483600) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner) Remains recovered
Sergeant William John Drake (1380012) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator) Remains recovered
Sergeant William Forster (1533997) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Kenneth Laurence William Lay (408724) (Pilot)
Sergeant Reginald Edward Ratcliffe (743397) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
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, 166/24/115