LEST WE FORGET

Flight Sergeant Colin McDowell MILLER

Service No: 401848
Born: Melbourne VIC, 23 October 1913
Enlisted in the RAAF: 26 April 1941
Unit: No. 12 Squadron (RAF), RAF Wickenby, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 12 Squadron Lancaster I aircraft W4789), Germany, 18 January 1943, Aged 29 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Malcolm McDonald Miller and Christina Marie Miller, of Coburg, Victoria, Australia. B.A. (Melbourne).
Roll of Honour: Coburg VIC
Remembered: Panel 193, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 127, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT

Lancaster W4789 took off from RAF Station Wickenby, at 1626 hours on the 17 January 1943 to bomb Berlin. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. In 1949 crew members were recorded as missing with had no known graves.

The crew members of W4789 were:

Sergeant Leslie Ernest Austin (1087065) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant John Keith Bond (412099) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Sergeant Jim Corke (1378184) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant William Richard Maunder (646817) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Colin McDowell Miller (401848) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Douglas Clarke Morphett (406573) (Pilot)
Sergeant Derek Bryan Pollitt (1229401) (RAFVR) (Air 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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/27/20

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