LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer James Samuel LUPTON
Service No: 428331
Born: Castlemaine VIC, 20 July 1924
Enlisted in the RAAF: 10 October 1942
Unit: No. 514 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Mildenhall
Died: Air Operations: (No. 514 Squadron Lancaster aircraft LL731), Germany, 12 September 1944, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Rheinberg War Cemetery, Kamp Lintfort, Nordrhein-Westfal, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of James Trewhella Lupton and Rose Pretoria Lupton, of Geelong, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 126, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On the night of 12 September 1944 Lancaster LL731 took off from Mildenhall detailed to bomb Frankfurt, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. A Missing Research & Enquiry team later reported: “The aircraft crashed at 2330 hours at Kordel a small town in the Ehranger Wald, and approximately 8 kms north west of Trier.” Five of the crew members were killed, and two taken prisoner.
The crew members of LL731 were:
Sergeant William Percy Blake (972379) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flying Officer William Douglas Brickwood (179791) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Ronald Gordon Collender (416419) (RNZAF) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer James Samuel Lupton (428331) (Rear Gunner)
Flight Sergeant T J Rigden (1230758) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber) PoW
Flight Sergeant Keith Varndell Stafford (421784) (RNZAF) (Navigator)
Pilot Officer C O Turner (182295) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer) PoW
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, 166/25/199