LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Kenneth Septimus McCOLL
Service No: 401712
Born: Westgarth VIC, 5 September 1913
Enlisted in the RAAF: 28 March 1941
Unit: No. 408 (Goose) Squadron (RCAF), RAF Station Leeming
Died: Air Operations: (No. 408 Squadron Halifax aircraft HR713), North West Europe, 4 April 1943, Aged 29 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Bernard Francis Whitegreave McColl and Elsie Mabel McColl, of Northcote, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 191, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 133, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1945 hours on the night of 3 April 1943 Halifax HR 713 took off from Leeming, to carry out bombing operations over Essen, Germany. Nothing further was heard of the aircraft or crew after take off.
The crew members of HR713 were:
Sergeant Robert Walton Barker (989712) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Pilot Officer Charles Noola Black (405347) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Flight Lieutenant Robert Hodgson Perry Gamble (J/9337) (RCAF) (Pilot)
Sergeant Albert James Hawkins (919537) (RAFVR) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Flight Sergeant Donald Leslie Jarrett (R/90781) (RCAF) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Pilot Officer Kenneth Septimus McColl (401712) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Edmund Rothell Ray (J/11851) (RCAF) (Air Gunner (from the US))
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, 166/26/78