LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant John Harrie McGUIGAN
Service No: 428401
Born: Caulfield VIC, 1 September 1924
Enlisted in the RAAF: 13 October 1942
Unit: No. 49 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Fulbeck
Died: Air Operations: (No. 49 Squadron Lancaster aircraft PB374), North West Europe, 9 April 1945, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Mr. and Mrs. H. E. McGuigan, of Berwick, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 284, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 126, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1826 hours on 8 April 1945 Lancaster PB374 took off from Fulbeck to bomb Lutdzkendorf, 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 1949 that the missing crew members had no known graves.
The crew members of PB374 were:
Flying Officer Roger Cluer (190041) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant Peter Frederick Chester Jackson (1676676) (RAFVR) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Sergeant Peter Lipp (1826016) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant George Alexander MacLennan (547776) (RAF) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flight Sergeant John Harrie McGuigan (428401) (Wireless Operator Air)
Flying Officer Murray Roy McKay (J/38401) (RCAF) (Air Bomber)
Flight Sergeant Ronald Ernest Wilkins (1454207) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
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, 166/26/878