LEST WE FORGET
Warrant Officer Charles Alfred MATTRESS
Service No: 402531
Born: Epping NSW, 13 September 1917
Enlisted in the RAAF: 16 September 1940
Unit: No. 166 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Kirmington
Died: Air Operations: (No. 166 Squadron Wellington aircraft HE346), North West Europe, 26 June 1943, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Frederick Henry and Louisa Evelyn Mattress, of Ballina, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 191, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 127, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Lismore Cenotaph, Lismore NSW
At 2338 hours on the night of 25/26 June 1943 Wellington HE346 took off from Kirmington as one of ten aircraft detailed to attack Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Crews reported that the visibility was good with much fighter, anti-aircraft fire and searchlight opposition. Nothing was heard from HE346 after take off and it did not return to base. Following post war investigations and enquiries, it was recorded in 1950 that the missing crew members had no known graves.
The crew members of HE346 were:
Sergeant Thomas Ball (1620011) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Warrant Officer Charles Alfred Mattress (402531) (Pilot)
Sergeant Alfred Mortimer (1499905) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Norman Ronald Parry (1383146) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator)
Sergeant John Peter Priestley (1517817) (RAFVR) (Bomb Aimer)
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, 166/27/155
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line
Bibliography:
Winter, V.A. (Vincent Adams) (408547) Noble Six Hundred: the story of the Empire Air Training Scheme with special reference to Australians who trained in Southern Rhodesia, V.A. Winter Brighton VIC 3186