LEST WE FORGET

Flight Sergeant Anthony LORENZ

Service No: 413314
Born: Austinmer NSW, 4 January 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 16 August 1941
Unit: No. 12 (Pilot) Advanced Flying Unit (RAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 12 (Pilot) Advanced Flying Unit Blenheim aircraft L1437), Lincolnshire, 29 March 1943, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Grantham Cemetery, Lincolnshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Karl Joseph and Mary Lorenz, of Austinmer, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Austinmer NSW
Remembered: Panel 125, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT

While on a non-operational night exercise on 29 March 1943, Blenheim L1437 crashed at 2305 hours in the village of Stroxton, Lincolnshire, and Flight Sergeant Lorenz flying solo was killed. An eyewitness Sergeant Strickland (Instructor) stated that “I observed the Blenheim flying over the flare path into the wind at a height of approximately 300 feet. It appeared that it was doing an overshoot, and when in a position over the landing lights, it lost height at a fairly fast rate, disappeared only to re-appear almost immediately as the pilot regained control. It then did a turn to port very low down, and from that position it dived into the ground and burst into flames.” It was considered that the accident was due to loss of control by the pilot in an overshoot action.

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, 166/25/27

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