LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant Frederick Charles McKENZIE
Service No: 415087
Born: Collie WA, 27 July 1915
Enlisted in the RAAF: 23 June 1941
Unit: No. 90 Squadron (RAF), RAF Wratting Common, Cambridgeshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 90 Squadron Stirling aircraft EH900), Germany, 26 June 1943, Aged 27 Years
Buried: Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Kleve, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Nathaniel and Hilda Muriel McKenzie, of Three Springs, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 126, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
Stirling EH900 took off from RAF West Wickham (renamed Wratting Common in August 1943) at 2329 hours on the night of 25/26th June 1943, detailed to carry out an attack on Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed at Legden, 9 kms south east of Anaus, Germany. All the crew members were killed and they are buried in the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery.
The crew members of EH900 were:
Sergeant Colin Desmond Harry Campbell (133017) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Alec Victor Ibbetson Cook (130588) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant John Charles Davidson (984107) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Frederick William Ealden 91397129) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flight Lieutenant Frederick Charles McKenzie (415087) (Pilot)
Sergeant William Edward Walter (1385752) (RAF) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Ernest Wilson (995196) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
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, 166/26/162