LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant David William McCRAY
Service No: 429607
Born: Calliope QLD, 3 July 1924
Enlisted in the RAAF: 9 October 1942
Unit: No 50 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Skellingthorpe
Died: Air Operations: (No. 50 Squadron Lancaster aircraft LM676), Germany, 17 December 1944, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Durnbach War Cemetery, Bad Tolz, Bayern, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Victor William and Gladys Rose McCray, of Mornington, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Brisbane QLD
Remembered: Panel 126, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1615 hours on the night of 17 December 1944 Lancaster LM676 took off from Skellingthorpe detailed to bomb Munich, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. It was later established that the aircraft crashed at 2200 hours at Freimann Barracks, Munich. Five of the crew members were killed and two became Prisoners of War.
The crew members of LM676 were:
Pilot Officer Ronald Ernest Amey DFC (146973) (RAFVR) (Pilot) PoW, Died of injuries: 31 December 1944
Sergeant Michael John Cook (1853768) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flying Officer David Robert Kennedy (1801582) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Flight Sergeant George William Lane DFM (1682895) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air)
Sergeant F Livesey (2204730) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer) PoW
Flight Sergeant David William McCray (429607) (Navigator)
Sergeant Roy Shackleton (2206050) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
A report by Sergeant Livesey stated “the aircraft crashed near the target and both he and Amey were blown out by the explosion.”
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, 166/26/713