LEST WE FORGET

Flight Sergeant Gordon William McLEAN

Service No: 424124
Born: Sutherland NSW, 19 August 1914
Enlisted in the RAAF: 15 August 1942
Unit: No. 100 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Grimsby, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 100 Squadron Lancaster aircraft DV192), France, 28 April 1944, Aged 29 Years
Buried: They-sous-Montfort Churchyard, Vosges, France
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William Henry and Leveina Pricilla McLean; husband of Olive Marjorie McLean, of Bondi, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 124, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT

Lancaster DV192 took off from RAF Grimsby at 2151 hours on the night of 27 April 1944, detailed to bomb Friedrichshafen, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. A Missing Research and Enquiry team later reported “the aircraft crashed on the outskirts of the village of They-sous-Montfort at 0500 hours on 28 April 1944. Six of the crew members were killed and one evaded capture.

The crew members of DV192 were:

Flying Officer Edward Bashi (151158) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Pilot Officer William John Bell (172301) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant William Leonard Evans (1026577) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Laurence Jakeman (1505659) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Kenneth Stanley Keeping (659155) (RAF) (Air Bomber)
Flight Sergeant Gordon William McLean (424124) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Norman Reginald Allen Thom (1397971) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air) Evaded capture

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, 166/26/436

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