LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Michael McMAHON
Service No: 414070
Born: Kuranda QLD, 20 July 1913
Enlisted in the RAAF: 20 July 1941
Unit: No. 103 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Elsham Wolds
Died: Air Operations: (No. 103 Squadron Lancaster aircraft JB730), Germany, 24 December 1943, Aged 30 Years
Buried: Rheinberg War Cemetery, Kamp Lintfort, Nordrhein-Westfal, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Michael and Lily McMahon, of Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Townsville QLD
Remembered: Panel 126, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Lancaster JB730 took off from Elsham Wolds at 0045 hours on the morning of 24 December 1943 detailed to bomb Berlin. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed near the village of Obersain north of Koblenz, Germany and all the crew members were killed.
The crew members of JB730 were:
Sergeant John Walker Brewster (1567853) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant George Ernest Crawford (841109) (RAF (Auxiliary Air Force)) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant Albert Ronald Fleming (591603) (RAF) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Allan Gordon MacDonald (421737) (RNZAF) (Air Bomber)
Pilot Officer Michael McMahon (414070) (Pilot)
Sergeant Robert Blyth Stocks (1568288) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Tom Thompson (1351019) (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, 166/26/224
Bibliography:
Charlwood, D.E.C. (Donald Ernest Cameron) (408794) No Moon Tonight (Angus and Robertson 1956), Penguin Ringwood VIC, 3134, 1991