LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Francis Edward MONCKTON
Service No: 403197
Born: London, England, 28 February 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 11 December 1940 (at Sydney NSW)
Unit: No. 12 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Binbrook, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 12 Squadron Wellington aircraft Z8529), France, 3 September 1942, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Marissel French National Cemetery, Oise, France
CWGC Additional Information: Son of James Frederick Edward and Dorothy Verrinder Monckton, of Nabiac, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: North Sydney NSW
Remembered: Panel 127, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Wellington Z8529 took off from RAF Binbrook at 2252 hours on the night of 2/3 September 1942 to bomb Karlsruhe, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. It was later learned that the aircraft had been lost and two crew members had been killed.
The crew members of Z8529 were:
Flight Sergeant Colin Albert Alt (403299) (Pilot) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 6 November 1945
Sergeant John Joseph Foley (1354385) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner) PoW
Sergeant William Burman Holland (1377323) (RAFVR) (Navigator) PoW
Sergeant John Innes Montgomery Logan (778687) (RAFVR) (Bomb Aimer)
Flight Sergeant Francis Edward Monckton (403197) (Wireless Air Gunner)
In a PoW report Flight Sergeant Alt stated “The aircraft was returning from Karlsruhe, height
9000 feet, 10 miles from the French coast, when it was attacked by a JU88. Effective evasion action was taken during which the height was reduced to 5000 feet. An enemy aircraft was sighted on the starboard side and slightly above, so the height was dropped to 500 feet. The port propeller hit a tree and the port motor became U/S. The propeller was feathered and an attempt made to climb on one engine. This failed owing to an increase in the height of the ground and we crashed into the brow of a hill. Both Monckton and Logan were killed by the impact, and Holland suffered a fractured collar bone. Both Foley and self were uninjured. The aircraft crashed in the vicinity of St Juste, France. I was picked up 6 days later by the Germans.”
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, 163/145/286