LEST WE FORGET

Pilot Officer William Douglas McKENZIE

Service No: 410367
Born: Terang VIC, 6 June 1917
Enlisted in the RAAF: 6 December 1941
Unit: No. 460 Squadron, RAF Station Binbrook, Lincolnshire
Died: Aircraft Accident: (No. 460 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ME727), Lincolnshire, 9 April 1944, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Cambridge City Cemetery, Cambridgeshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Kenneth and Annie McKenzie, of Noorat, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Terang VIC
Remembered: Panel 108, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT

Date: 9-10 April 1944
Target: Villeneuve St Georges Marshalling Yards
Total Force: Dispatched – 225, Attacking – 210
RAAF Force: No. 460 Dispatched – Unavailable, Attacking – 2; No. 466 Dispatched – Unavailable, Attacking – 15
Tons of Bombs Dropped: 994
Total Aircraft Lost: –
RAAF Aircraft Lost: – (1)

(1) The extract does not include the accidental loss of Lancaster ME727.

Extract from Herington, J. (John) (406545) Air War Over Europe 1944-1945, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1963 – Page 27

Lancaster ME 727 was detailed to bomb railway yards at Villeneuve St Georges, south east of Paris on the night of 9 April 1944. The bomb load was 12 x 1000 lb (pound) (450 kg) and 4 x 500 lb (225 kg) bombs. The aircraft took off from RAF Binbrook at 2124 hours and after take off it dropped the port wing, executed a turn to port with the wing still down. It continued to turn six complete circles in the air moving away from the aerodrome, losing height and gradually getting steeper in the turn. It finally crashed in woods at 2130 hours approximately 2 kms from the aerodrome, and all the crew members were killed. It was later established that the aircraft took off with the trim incorrectly set.

The crew members of ME727 were:

Sergeant Sidney Basil Barber (1216017) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant John Lowes Crouch (1437428) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Ronald Mansfield (420225) (Wireless Operator Air)
Pilot Officer William Douglas McKenzie (410367) (Pilot)
Sergeant John Septimus Pyne (1852477) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Bryon John Joseph Simpson (412200) (Bomb Aimer)
Flight Sergeant Walter David Weekes (423957) (Navigator)

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 A 705, 166/26/417

Bibliography:

Firkins, P. C. (Peter Charles) (441386) Strike and Return, Westward Ho Publishing City Beach WA, 1985

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