LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Douglas Arthur MILLIGAN
Service No: 14818
Born: Croydon, England, 6 November 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 29 April 1940 (at Sydney NSW)
Unit: No. 101 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Holme-on-Spalding Moor
Died: Air Operations: (No. 101 Squadron Lancaster aircraft W4782), Denmark, 8 December 1942, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Esbjerg (Fourfelt) Cemetery, Denmark
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Stewart Howe Milligan and Dorothy Milligan, of Concord, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Concord NSW
Remembered: Panel 127, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Lancaster W4782 took off from Holme-on-Spalding Moor on the night of 8/9 December 1942 detailed to carry out a gardening (mine-laying) mission and lay mines in the Great Belt area. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire and crashed at 2030 hours near Novrup, 4 kms east of Esbjerg, Denmark. Three of the crew members were killed and four became Prisoners of War.
The crew members of W4782 were:
Sergeant W E Currier (R/73251) (RCAF) (Navigator) PoW
Sergeant R F Johncock (1335823) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner) PoW
Sergeant R O S Lucas (1200586) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner) PoW
Sergeant D F MacDonald (R/109064) (RCAF) (Wireless Air Gunner) PoW
Flight Sergeant Ernest Caldwell McLean (R/93450) (RCAF) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Douglas Arthur Milligan (14818) (Flight Engineer)
Warrant Officer II Francis Paul Quinn (R/82607) (RCAF) (Pilot)
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, 163/144/251