LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer James Albert LOPEZ
Service No: 402448
Born: Sydney NSW, 2 December 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 19 august 1940
Unit: No. 7 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Oakington
Died: Injures from Air Operations: (loss of No. 7 Squadron Stirling aircraft N6087 on 18 November 1941), Cambridgeshire, 18 November 1941, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Cambridge City Cemetery, Cambridgeshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of James Henry and Millie May Lopez, of Randwick, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Randwick NSW
Remembered: Panel 125, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Brother of Flying Officer Robin Henry Lopez (421603)
At 1458 hours on 18 November 1941 Stirling N6087 took off from Oakington to bomb Brest, France. When the aircraft was returning to base after the mission the port engine caught fire and the pilot decided to make an emergency landing. While doing so the aircraft flew into telephone wires and crashed near West Bluntisham, some 12 miles north west of Cambridge. Two crew members were killed and the remainder were injured including Flying Officer Lopez who later died.
The crew members of N6087 were:
Flight Sergeant P Comroe (R/65640) (RCAF) (Air Gunner) Injured
Sergeant J Devlin (627399) (RAF) Injured
Flying Officer James Albert Lopez (402448) (Navigator) Fatally injured, Died: 18 November 1941
Flying Officer John Thompson O’Brien MID (41053) (RAF) (Pilot)
Sergeant James Edward Rose (1263633) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant T J Ryder (746901) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer) Injured
Sergeant Maurice Anthony Sullivan GM (400359) (Rear Gunner) Injured, Killed on Air Operations: 18 December 1941
Sergeant Sullivan was awarded the George Medal for his actions in rescuing his fellow crew members.
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, 164/43/44