LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer James Thomas LOWE
Service No: 427002
Born: Bunbury WA, 7 February 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 26 April 1942
Unit: No. 15 Squadron (RAF), RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk
Died: Air Operations (No. 15 Squadron Lancaster aircraft HK626), Germany, 4 December 1944, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Kleve, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Jack and Emily Violet Lowe, of Harvey, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Bunbury WA
Remembered: Panel 126, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
Lancaster HK626 took off from RAF Mildenhall at 1151 hours on 4th December 1944 on a day mission to bomb Oberhausen, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. HK 626 was seen by other crews from the Squadron on the same mission, to explode in the air and crash at Oberhausen. Oberhausen is 8 miles north east of Duisburg Germany. It was believed the aircraft was hit by flak. All crew members were killed.
The crew members of HK626 were:
Flying Officer Vincent Davis (429452) (Pilot)
Sergeant John George Shewen (2211742) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Pilot Officer John Howell Furness (429111) (Navigator)
Pilot Officer James Thomas Lowe (427002) (Bomb Aimer)
Pilot Officer Robert Wesley Skilbeck (430063) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Stanley William John Taylor (3000350) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant Patrick Byram Wilson (3040116) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
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, 166/25/232
Bibliography:
Silbert, E. A. (Eric Abraham) (427030) Dinkum Mishpochah, Artlook Books Hay Street East WA, 1981