LEST WE FORGET

Flight Sergeant John James Lewis McDONELL

Service No: 428340
Born: Boronia VIC, 19 July 1924
Enlisted in the RAAF: 10 October 1942
Unit: No. 153 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Scampton
Died: Air Operations: (No. 153 Squadron Lancaster aircraft PB636), North West Europe, 23 January 1945, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Mr. and Mrs. A. C. McDonell, of Ormond, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 284, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 126, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT

Lancaster PB636 took off from Scampton on 22 January 1945 to bomb Duisberg, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off, and it did not return to base. Following post war enquiries and investigations, it was recorded in 1950 that the missing crew members had no known graves.

The crew members of PB636 were:

Warrant Officer John Edwin Bateup (424283) (Wireless Operator Air)
Flight Sergeant Charles Leslie Cullen (1439614) (RAFVR)
Sergeant Sydney Strettle James (1869987) (RAFVR)
Flight Lieutenant Alan Edgar Jones DFC (47423) (RAF) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant John James Lewis McDonell (428340) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Sergeant Albert Simpson (1238641) (RAFVR)
Sergeant Reuben Victor Trafford (638898) (RAFVR)

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, 166/26/770

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