LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Gordon Stanley MILLS
Service No: 417872
Born: Murray Bridge SA, 11 October 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 18 July 1942
Unit: No. 10 Squadron, RAF Mount Batten, Plymouth
Died: Air Operations (No. 10 Squadron Sunderland III aircraft MK574), Bay of Biscay, 15 February 1944, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Bath (Haycombe) Cemetery, Somerset
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Wilfred Samuel and Lilla Mills, of Albert Park, South Australia
Roll of Honour: Murray Bridge SA
Remembered: Panel 127, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
While on patrol in the Bay of Biscay on 15 February 1944, No. 10 Squadron Sunderland MK574 was attacked by a number of JU88 aircraft and Flight Sergeant Mills was killed. The Sunderland was only slightly damaged and returned to base. The crew members of MK 574 were:
Sergeant (later Pilot Officer) William Roberts Carlsson (45564) (Flight Engineer) Discharged from the RAAF: 15 February 1946
Flight Sergeant (later Flying Officer) Gerard Gray Casey DFC (418251) (Air Gunner) Discharged from the RAAF: 15 February 1946
Flight Sergeant (later Warrant Officer) Frederick Henry Clarke (7104) (Flight Engineer) Discharged from the RAAF: 11 October 1945
Sergeant Beverley Dutton Crane (432307) (Air Gunner) Discharged from the RAAF: 25 September 1945
Flying Officer Geoffrey Keith Ellerton (407043) (Navigator) Discharged from the RAAF: 17 April 1946
Pilot Officer Reginald Hammond O16666 (6612) (Second Pilot) Discharged from the RAAF: 27 February 1946
Flight Lieutenant John McCulloch (409429) (Pilot) Discharged from the RAAF: 18 June 1945
Flight Sergeant Gordon Stanley Mills (417872) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant (later Flying Officer) Arthur Forbes Stephenson (412741) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner) Discharged from the RAAF: 25 September 1945
Flying Officer William Boris Tilley DFC (418483) (First Pilot) Discharged from the RAAF: 20 September 1945
Flight Sergeant Geoffrey John Varcoe (422066) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner) Discharged from the RAAF: 20 December 1945
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
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, 166/27/355
Bibliography:
Ashworth, N. (Norman) The ANZAC Squadron: A history of No. 461 Squadron RAAF 1942-5, Hesperian Press Victoria Park WA 6100, 1994
Baff, K.C (Kevin), Maritime is Number Ten, K.C. Baff Netley SA, 1983
Joubert, P.B. (Sir Phillip Bennet) Birds and Fishes: the story of Coastal Command, Hutchinson and Company London, 1960
Southall, I.F. (Ivan Francis) (418900) They Shall Not Pass Unseen, Angus and Robertson Sydney NSW, 1956
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Anson, Hudson and Sunderland in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1992