LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Jack Maxwell MAYHEAD
Service No: 428011
Born: Launceston TAS, 25 April 1913
Enlisted in the RAAF: 14 August 1942
Unit: No. 622 Squadron (RAF), RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk
Died: Air Operations (No. 622 Squadron Lancaster aircraft LM491), France, 8 June 1944, Aged 31 Years
Buried: Tacoignieres Churchyard, Yvelines, France
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Percival Walter and Clarice Oliver Mayhead; husband of Edna Vera Mayhead, of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Hobart TAS
Remembered: Panel 127, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On the night of 7/8th June 1944, Lancaster LM491 took off from RAF Mildenhall, detailed to bomb rail facilities at Massy Palaiseau, France. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. A Missing Research and Enquiry team later reported: “The aircraft was attacked by a night fighter, blew up in the air and crashed at approximately 0200 hours on the 8th June 1944, near the village of Tacoignieres, (Yvelines) the district of Seine et Oire. All the crew were killed.
The crew members of LM491 were:
Sergeant John Cunningham (1353624) (RAF) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Pilot Officer John Ernest Hall (174020) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant Barry Wentworth Jarvis (804377) (RAF) (Flight Engineer)
Pilot Officer Jack Maxwell Mayhead (428011) (Rear Gunner)
Pilot Officer Donald Mitchell Norris (J/86654) (RCAF) (Air Bomber)
Pilot Officer Raymond Michael Smith (J/87021) (RCAF) (Navigator)
Sergeant Albert Edward Till (1515872) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air 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, 166/27/456