LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Keith Charles McGINN
Service No: 435018
Born: Mackay QLD, 22 January 1925
Enlisted in the RAAF: 26 February 1943
Unit: No. 103 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Elsham Wolds
Died: Air Operations (No. 103 Squadron Lancaster aircraft NF913), Germany, 8 March 1945, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Kleve, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Charles Hume McGinn, and Mona Margaret McGinn, of Mackay, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Mackay QLD
Remembered: Panel 126, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Lancaster NF913 took off from RAF Elsham Wolds at 1702 hours on the night of 8 March 1945 detailed to bomb Dessau, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. It was later learned that four of the crew members had been killed and three taken prisoner.
The crew members of NF913 were:
Sergeant J J Bent (RAF) (Flight Engineer) PoW
Warrant Officer II A D Cruikshank (RCAF) (Mid Upper Gunner) PoW
Flight Sergeant Robert Leslie Leavers (1231015) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Flight Sergeant Kevin Charles McGinn (435018) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Samuel Leo Saxe (J/88010) (RCAF) (Pilot)
Flying Officer Michael Shatzky (J/38730) (RCAF) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant R C Snell (RCAF) (Rear Gunner) 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 A9301, 435018
Bibliography:
Charlwood, D.E.C. (Donald Ernest Cameron) (408794) No Moon Tonight (Angus and Robertson 1956), Penguin Ringwood VIC, 3134, 1991