LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Peter Morris LOW
Service No: 428142
Born: Campania TAS, 3 June 1924
Enlisted in the RAAF: 29 January 1943
Unit: No. 460 Squadron, RAF Binbrook, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations (No. 460 Squadron Lancaster aircraft PB175), Germany, 20 October 1944, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Durnbach War Cemetery, Bad Tolz, Bayern, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Donald John and Nellie Susan Low, of Bagdad, Tasmania, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Hobart TAS
Remembered: Panel 107, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Date: 19-20 October 1944
Target: Stuttgart
Total Force: Dispatched – 583, Attacking – 564
RAAF Force: No. 460 Dispatched – 28, Attacking – 28
Tons of Bombs Dropped: 2,446
Total Aircraft Lost: 6
RAAF Aircraft Lost: No. 460 – 2
No. 460 went to Stuttgart on 19th-20th October and, although crews were cautious in their reports because the target had been obscured by cloud, later evidence showed that electrical, chemical and aircraft factories had been badly damaged. The same night a smaller force from No. 5 Group (including Nos. 463 and 467 RAAF Squadrons) struck at Nuremberg and added to the confusion already created by USAAF daylight raids.
Extract from Herington, J. (John) (406545) Air War Over Europe 1944-1945, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1963 – Pages 306-7
Lancaster PB175 took off from RAF Binbrook at 1652 hours on 19 October 1944 to bomb Stuttgart, Germany. Bomb load 1 x 4000 lb (pound) (1,800 kg) bomb and 1800 x 4 lb (2 kg) incendiaries. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. Twenty eight aircraft from the squadron took part in the raid and two of these including PB175 failed to return.
The crew members of PB175 were:
Flight Sergeant William James Carpenter (426043) (Bomb Aimer)
Sergeant Eric Clifford Fagg (419464) (Navigator)
Flight Lieutenant Douglas Boyd Hamilton (423722) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant John Leonard Jago (424763) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Frank Benjamin Gregory King (1802260) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant Peter Morris Low (428142) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flight Sergeant David James Oliver (422671) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
No. 460 Squadron lost Lancaster PB 152 (Pilot Officer Peter Carroll Fontaine (415940) (Pilot)) on 19 October 1944.
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, 166/20/214
Bibliography:
Firkins, P. C. (Peter Charles) (441386) Strike and Return, Westward Ho Publishing City Beach WA, 1985