LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Stephen McCarthy LIST
Service No: 425175
Born: Burrum QLD, 5 July 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 31 January 1942
Unit: No. 49 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Fiskerton
Died: Air Operations: (No. 49 Squadron Lancaster aircraft JB305), Netherlands, 3 November 1943, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Kleve, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Henry Martin List and Mary List, of Childers, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Childers QLD
Remembered: Panel 125, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1701 hours on the night of 3 November 1943 Lancaster JB305 took off from Fiskerton to bomb Dusseldorf, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed in the target area. Four of the crew members were killed and three became Prisoners of War.
The crew members of JB305 were:
Flight Lieutenant Norman Henry Carfoot (64295) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant H D Church (1610171) (RAFVR) (Navigator) PoW
Flight Sergeant Stephen McCarthy List (425175) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Wilfred Henry Marson (1289368) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant J S Mason (1568212) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer) PoW
Flight Sergeant S G Putman (R/116421) (RCAF) (Air Bomber) PoW
Sergeant Henry Leonard Wood (1578075) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
A PoW report by Sergeant Church stated “I cannot say whether List is alive or not. He reported himself free from his turret before I left the aircraft.” Sergeant Mason stated “I know that List was preparing to jump when I left the aircraft.”
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, 166/24/219