LEST WE FORGET

Flight Sergeant John Benedict MALONEY

Service No: 423547
Born: Surry Hills NSW, 28 June 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 14 July 1942
Unit: No. 207 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Spilsby
Died: Air Operations: (No. 207 Squadron Lancaster aircraft LL968), France, 4 December 1944, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Choloy War Cemetery, Meurthe-et-Moselle, France
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Bertram Patrick and Ruby Violet Maloney, of Leichhardt, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Leichardt NSW
Remembered: Panel 126, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Leichardt Memorial, Leichardt NSW

At 1634 hours on the night of 4 December 1944 Lancaster LL968 took off from Spilsby detailed to bomb Heilbronn, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed at Barenbach in the Department of Bas-Rhin, some 2 kms east of Schirmeck. All the crew members were killed.

The crew members of LL968 were:

Flight Sergeant Norman Leslie Terrett Day (1324940) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Warrant Officer Allan Keith Jenkins (408999) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Albert Frederick Langstone (1852359) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flying Officer Michael Joseph Lovett (184363) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant John Benedict Maloney (423547) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Jack Wood Thorne (1284560) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant John Wyper (1550746) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper 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 Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/27/675
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line

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