LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer James Joseph MOON
Service No: 410908
Born: Inglewood VIC, 4 April 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 27 March 1942
Unit: No. 428 Squadron (RCAF), RAF Middleton St George, Durham
Died: Air Operations: (No. 428 Squadron Halifax aircraft EB252), Germany, 20 December 1943, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Rheinberg War Cemetery, Kamp Lintfort, Nordrhein-Westfal, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Archibald James Moon and Gladys Myrtle Moon; husband of Gwendoline Thelma Amelia Moon, of Underdale, South Australia
Roll of Honour: Melbourne VIC
Remembered: Panel 133, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On the night of 20/21st December 1943, Halifax EB252 took off from RAF Middleton St George at 1600 hours, detailed to bomb Frankfurt, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. A Missing Research & Enquiry team reported: “The Burgomeister of the village of Naunheim stated that two airmen tried to bale out but were killed in the attempt. The aircraft was only 75/100 feet high at the time. Five others were still in the aircraft, and Clucas and Moon had been identified.” Seven of the crew members were killed and Flying Officer Elliott became a Prisoner of War.
The crew members of EB252 were:
Pilot Officer William John Armour DFC (414333) (Pilot)
Pilot Officer Frank Cottier Clucas (416932) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Leonard Peter Coupe (1458000) (RAFVR) (Bomb Aimer)
Flight Sergeant Herbert Charles Dumbrill (1386442) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer John Dale Elliott (J/20710) (RCAF) (Navigator) PoW
Flying Officer James Joseph Moon (410908) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Sidney Percival Page (1675979) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flying Officer Charles Richard Sandes (J/22255) (RCAF) (Second Pilot)
In a PoW Report Flying Officer Elliott stated “As the intercom was rendered inactive I was unable to state whether Clucas was alive when I abandoned the aircraft by chute. The Germans told me he had been killed and identified. The aircraft crashed 20 miles south of Koblenz, and the Germans told me that all the others had been killed.”
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, 166/28/210