LEST WE FORGET

Flying Officer John McArthur McLEAN DFC

Service No: 404519
Born: Melbourne VIC, 7 June 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 13 September 1940 (at Brisbane QLD)
Unit: No. 619 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Woodhall Spa
Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), 29 December 1942
Died: Air Operations: (No. 619 Squadron Lancaster aircraft EE112), Germany, 11 August 1943, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Durnbach War Cemetery, Bad Tolz, Bayern Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Douglas Allan and Emily Jean McLean, of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Roll of Honour: Sydney NSW
Remembered: Panel 126, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT

DFC Citation: Pilot Officer McLean’s navigation has been of the highest order and has in a large measure contributed to the successes achieved by his pilot and crew. On a night in August 1942, at Osnabruck, and again in September 1942, at Wilhelmshaven, he obtained some excellent photographs. This officer’s devotion to duty, keenness and operational efficiency has been an inspiration to his fellow navigators. (London Gazette 29 December 1942, Page 5638)

At 2146 hours on the night of 10 August 1943, Lancaster EE112 took off from Woodhall Spa detailed to bomb Nuremberg, 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 exploded in mid air and crashed at Moosbach on the 11 August 1943, Moosbach is nine miles south east of Nuremberg. All the crew members were killed.”

The crew members of EE112 were:

Flying Officer Alec Hayward Blazer (124718) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Flight Lieutenant Edward Dampier-Crossley DFC (403012) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Frank Dawson (1077766) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer John McArthur McLean DFC (404519) (Navigator)
Flying Officer Peter Clement Moxham (138471) (RAF) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Pilot Officer George Barnes Penny Patterson (155834) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant John Wardle (1312826) (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, 166/26/208

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