LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Harry Lincoln LETHBRIDGE
Service No: 406600
Born: Perth WA, 16 January 1916
Enlisted in the RAAF: 3 February 1941
Unit: No. 233 Squadron (RAF), RAF North Front, Gibraltar
Died: Air Operations: (No. 233 Squadron Hudson aircraft FH453), Western Mediterranean Sea, 8 November 1942, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Walter Henry and Myrtle Ruth Lethbridge, of Perth, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 5, Column 1, Malta Memorial, Malta
Remembered: Panel 125, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
Hudson FH453 of 233 Squadron took off on 8 November 1942 at 0635 hours from RAF Station North Front to carry out anti-submarine protection of shipping and naval forces near Casablanca. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off, and it did not return to base. The wreckage of the aircraft was found. It had force landed in the sea and exploded. Two bodies were found but only one recovered that of Pilot Officer McEwen who is buried in the American Cemetery at Oran. In 1948 it was concluded that the remaining three crew members lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of FH453 were:
Flying Officer Harry Lincoln Lethbridge (406600) (Pilot)
Pilot Officer Alfred Leslie McEwen (112353) (RAF) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Frank Stanyon Snelling (47620) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Sergeant Hilgrove Pridgin Teale (930352) (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, 163/42/134
Bibliography:
Gaston, Bruce DFC (406646), Harry Horner DFC OAM (406595), Raymond Storer (406666) (Editors), Aircrew for the Duration: of and by members of RAAF EATS Courses 10, 11, 12 & 13, Gaston Horner and Storer, Nedlands WA, 1990