LEST WE FORGET
Squadron Leader John Philip LIVERSIDGE
Service No: 401092
Born: South Melbourne VIC, 12 July 1913
Enlisted in the RAAF: 4 January 1941
Unit: No. 178 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 178 Squadron Liberator aircraft KG933), Poland, 17 August 1944, Aged 31 Years
Buried: Krakow Rackowicki Cemetery, Poland
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Charles Eldred Liversidge and Lillian Amy Liversidge; husband of Eunice Miriam Liversidge, of Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Castlemaine VIC
Remembered: Panel 125, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At approximately 1955 hours on 17 August 1944 Liberator KG933 took off detailed to drop supply containers in the Warsaw area. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft was shot down by a night fighter and aircraft crashed near Ostron, 35 kms north east of Kracow. Three of the crew members were killed and three were safe.
The crew members of KG933 were:
Sergeant L J Blunt (1581776) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer) PoW
Flight Sergeant John Douglas Clarke (527242) (RAF) (Air Gunner)
Flight Lieutenant Allan Hunter Hammett DFM (400754) (Wireless Air Gunner) Baled out, Fought with Polish Resistance Forces, Discharged from the RAAF: 16 February 1946
Sergeant F W Helme (1675318) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner) PoW
Squadron Leader John Philip Liversidge (401092) (Navigator)
Flight Lieutenant William Douglas Wright (117930) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Five RAAF members serving in RAF Squadrons were lost in action during air operations providing assistance during the Warsaw Uprising in 1944:
Flight Sergeant Alexander Bennett (418698) No. 148 Squadron RAF, Died: 5 August 1944
Warrant Officer Murray Alexander Baxter (416821) No. 178 Squadron RAF, Died: 15 August 1944
Flying Officer Maurice Langford Casey No. 148 Squadron (418064) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 12 November 1945
Flight Lieutenant Allan Hunter Hammett DFM (400754)
Squadron Leader John Philip Liversidge (401092)
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, 166/24/521
Bibliography:
Lang, Noella The Rest of My Life with No. 50 Squadron: from the diaries and letters of Flying Officer P W Rowling, Access Press, Northbridge WA 6000, 1997
RAAF Directorate of Public Relations, Victory Roll, Australian War Memorial Canberra, 1945 – Chapter: Story of a Prison Camp