LEST WE FORGET

Pilot Officer Kenneth Archibald McIVER DFC

Service No: 412636
Born: Bendigo VIC, 1 January 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 20 July 1941
Unit: No. 467 Squadron, RAF Station Bottesford, Lincolnshire
Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), 19 October 1943 (Citation Title: No. 467 Squadron)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 467 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ED530), off the English Coast, 3 October 1943, Aged 25 Years
Buried: North Walsham New Cemetery, Norfolk
CWGC Additional Information:
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 111, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT

Date: 2-3 October 1943
Target: Berlin
Total Force: Dispatched – 294, Attacking – 273
RAAF Force: No. 460 Dispatched – 18, Attacking – 18; No. 467 Dispatched – 17, Attacking – 14
Tons of Bombs Dropped: 958
Total Aircraft Lost: 7
RAAF Aircraft Lost: No. 460 – 2; No. 467 – 2

The dangerously high ratio of casualties to positive success on these long distance raids caused great anxiety, and on 2nd-3rd October two tactical expedients were introduced by Bomber Command. Firstly to improve bombing, the Pathfinders dropped flares over the Wurm Lake so that aircraft could make a timed run into the centre of Munich. There was still a tendency for incendiary bombs to fall shorts and Flight Lieutenant Locke (1) who made a painstaking approach estimated that the main fires were four miles away from the centre of the city. This was later confirmed by photographs which showed the business and residential areas largely intact although significant isolated damage had resulted in outlying suburbs. The whole raid was over within fifteen minutes and, although fighters were present over the target, they had fewer opportunities there. The second innovation was an angle interposed in the bombers ‘ withdrawal route, so that German fighters airborne to attack them during the return flight assembled in incorrect positions Nevertheless it was a costly night for Nos. 460 and 467, each of which lost two Lancasters out of the total of seven which failed to return from the whole force. Many Australian crews also commented on insufficiency of petrol for evasive routeing on such a long trip. One Lancaster of No. 460 had to put down at Tangmere as soon as it reached the English coast, and Pilot Officer McIver, an experienced pilot of No. 467, was killed when he crashed into the Channel twenty-five miles short of the nearest emergency airfield. These raids, although far from faultless, caused worthwhile damage to railway communications and an I .G. Farben instrument factory.

(1) Flight Lieutenant Harry Baker Locke DSO DFC (401980) Discharged from the RAAF: 1 July 1947

Extracts from Herington, J. (John) (406545) Air War Against Germany and Italy 1939-1943, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1954 – Page 597-8

Lancaster ED530 took off from RAF Bottesford at 1844 hours on the night of 2/3rd October 1943 to bomb Munich, Germany. The bomb load was 1 x 4000 lb (pound) (1,800 kg) bomb, 84 x 30 lb (14 kg) 600 x 4 lb (2 kg) incendiaries. Seventeen aircraft from the Squadron took part in the raid and two of these including ED530 failed to return.

The crew members of ED530 were:

Flight Sergeant John Kennah Gale (1490465) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Clement MacLean (1330142) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant M E McGrath (1389496) (RAFVR) (Bomb Aimer) Rescued
Pilot Officer Kenneth Archibald McIver DFC (412636) (Pilot)
Sergeant Alexander Boyd McLelland (626056) (RAF) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant Frank William Shaw (1321440) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Robert Short (639991) (RAF) (Air Gunner)

There was one survivor from the crash Flight Sergeant McGrath, and he reported “Slight broken cloud. Bombs released on ETA from 20,000 feet at approximately 2235 hours. Concentration of incendiaries and bombs exploding seemed fairly good. No trouble encountered until petrol ran short (cause unknown). We ditched approx 25 miles south of Beachy Head at about 0130 hours.” Flight Sergeant McGrath was picked up from the sea by an ASR Walrus. The body of Pilot Officer McIver was later recovered as was Sergeant McLelland while the remaining four crew members are listed as missing.

No. 460 Squadron lost Lancaster W4301 (Sergeant William Edward Edmonds (414919) (Air Gunner)) on 2 October 1943.

No. 460 Squadron lost Lancaster JA856 (Pilot Officer Frank Leathley Robinson Lloyd DFM (412552) (Pilot)) on 2 October 1943.

No. 467 Squadron lost Lancaster ED621 (Flying Officer Milton Edwin Garbutt (413976) (Navigator)) on 2 October 1943.

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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/26/259
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line

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