LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Cyril McCALL
Service No: 434227
Born: Mackay QLD, 22 October 1915
Enlisted in the RAAF: 6 November 1942
Unit: No. 463 Squadron, RAF Station Waddington, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 463 Squadron Lancaster aircraft LM223), North West Europe, 23 September 1944, Aged 28 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John Joseph and Nora McCall, of Mackay, Queensland, Australia. Also served with 6th Division, A.I.F.
Roll of Honour: Finch Hatton QLD
Remembered: Panel 257, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 109, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Bomber Command showed interest in the proposal to attack the heavily used internal waterway system of Germany, especially the Dortmund-Ems canal which linked with the Mitteland canal to provide a direct passage from the Ruhr to central and eastern Germany. The Dortmund-Ems canal was breached on 23rd-24th September.
Extract from Herington, J. (John) (406545) Air War Over Europe 1944-1945, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1963 – Pages 311
Lancaster LM223 took off from RAF Waddington at 1907 hours on the night of 23/24th September 1944 to bomb the aqueduct over the Dortmund-Ems canal. The bomb load was 14 x 1000 lb (pound) (450 kg) bombs. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to
base. Seventeen aircraft from the Squadron took part in the raid and two of these including LM223 failed to return. Post war searches and enquiries found no trace of the missing aircraft or crew members.
The crew members of LM223 were:
Flight Sergeant Lawrence Arthur Davis (8905) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Walter George McDonald Geikie (404416) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Norman George Hurst (432190) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Sergeant Anthony Ledger (1593894) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flying Officer Cyril McCall (434227) (Navigator)
Flying Officer Sydney John Staples (422310) (Pilot)
Warrant Officer John Buxton Stinson (420783) (Bomb Aimer)
No. 463 Squadron lost Lancaster LM309 (Flight Sergeant Arthur Wilfred Haselhurst (418273) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)) on 23 September 1944.
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, 166/26/602
Further Information:
Bomber History Link (External Site)