LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant David Crawford Paterson LUNDIE
Service No: 412986
Born: Wollongong NSW, 25 September 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 15 August 1941
Unit: No. 460 Squadron, RAF Station Binbrook, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 460 Squadron Lancaster aircraft W4316), Netherland, 13 June 1943, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Ijsselmuiden (Grafhorst) General Cemetery, Overijssel, Netherlands
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Andrew Paterson Lundie and Mary Lundie, of Eastwood, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Eastwood NSW
Remembered: Panel 107, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Eastwood War Memorial, Eastwood NSW
Date: 12-13 June 1943
Target: Bochum
Total Force: Dispatched – 503, Attacking – 454
RAAF Force: No. 460 Dispatched – 22, Attacking – 21; No. 467 Dispatched – 18 Attacking – 17
Tons of Bombs Dropped: 1,507
Total Aircraft Lost: 24
RAAF Aircraft Lost: No. 460 – 2
Within the Ruhr proper, only one target with a well-defined central city area now remained undamaged. This, the coal producing and steel centre of Bochum lying mid-way between Essen and Dortmund, was attacked twice (May 13-14, June 12-13) by a large force. Already on 29th-30th March when the main attack was against Berlin, Wellingtons, including twelve of No. 466, had dropped 152 tons of bombs on Bochum, but with little effect. Even for the first major raid the Lancasters of No. 5 Group were not available as they bombed Pilsen in Czechoslovakia that night. On the last raid only four-engined aircraft were engaged. Both these raids were highly successful, the first razing the city centre and the second extending damage to industrial suburbs. Again there were no navigational or marking difficulties and, as at Dortmund, success lay in the ability of determined and well-trained crews to burst through enemy opposition.
Extracts from Herington, J. (John) (406545) Air War Against Germany and Italy 1939-1943, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1954 – Pages 486, 487
Lancaster W4316 took off from RAF Binbrook at 2310 hours on 12 June 1943 detailed to attack Bochum, Germany. The bomb load was 1 x 4000 lb (pound) (1,800 kg) bomb, and 56 x 30 lb (14 kg), 690 x 4 lb (2 kg) incendiaries. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. Twenty two aircraft from the squadron took part in the raid. It was later established that the aircraft crashed at Grafhorst (Overijssel), 3 kms north northeast of Kampen. Six crew members had been killed and one was a Prisoner of War.
The crew members of W4316 were:
Sergeant John Carlyle Cornish (R/15677) (RCAF) (Air Gunner) POW
Sergeant Leonard Frederick Charles Day (1433929) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant Andrew Gordon (409404) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant David Crawford Paterson Lundie (412986) (Navigator)
Sergeant Dennis Arthur Thomas (1336716) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator)
Sergeant Ronald Oliver Vaughan (1388329) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Pilot Officer Charles William Ross Young (132851) (RAFVR) (Bomb Aimer)
No. 460 Squadron lost Lancaster W4329 (Pilot Officer Lloyd Henry Moorehead Hadley DFC (404704) (Pilot)) on 13 June 1943.
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, 166/25/45
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line
Bibliography:
Firkins, P. C. (Peter Charles) (441386) Strike and Return, Westward Ho Publishing City Beach WA, 1985