LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Keith George McALPINE
Service No: 412623
Born: Glebe NSW, 23 October 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 20 July 1941
Unit: No. 35 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Graveley
Died: Air Operations: (No. 35 Squadron Halifax aircraft LV864), Germany, 20 February 1944, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William John and Mary Josephine McAlpine, of Glebe, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Glebe NSW
Remembered: Panel 126, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 0005 hours on the morning of 20 February 1944 Halifax LV864 took off from Graveley to Bomb Leipzig, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. A post war report by a Missing Research and Enquiry Unit stated “the aircraft was attacked by a night fighter and shot down in flames crashing near Buckow, approximately 17 miles east of Stendal, Germany.” Three crew members had been killed and the other four were Prisoners of War.
The crew members of LV864 were:
Flight Sergeant L Chant (RAF) (Bomb Aimer) PoW
Pilot Officer Keith George McAlpine (412623) (Pilot)
Pilot Officer A G S McCulloch (53682) (RAF) (Air Gunner) PoW
Flight Sergeant A A J Meyers (1386366) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner) PoW
Flight Sergeant Gerald Walter Traylor (658044) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant David Sinclair (R/76842) (RCAF) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant R J Twine (577599) (RAF) (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, 166/26/149