LEST WE FORGET
Warrant Officer Roderick De Burgh MORRISON
Service No: 415435
Born: Guildford WA, 20 February 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 12 October 1941
Unit: No. 77 Squadron (RAF), RAF Elvington, Yorkshire
Died: Air Operations (No. 77 Squadron Halifax aircraft LK729), Germany, 29 January 1944, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Ulic Alexander de Burgh and Gladys Landor Morrison, of East Guildford, Western Australia
Roll of Honour: Guildford WA
Remembered: Panel 127, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
Halifax LK729 took off from RAF Elvington at 2344 hours on the night of 28/29th January 1944, detailed to bomb Berlin. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. Six of the crew lost their lives and one became a Prisoner of War.
The crew members of LK729 were:
Sergeant G C Garner (1456655) (RAFVR) (Navigator) PoW
Pilot Officer Bernard John Kearley (159653) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant Leonard Raymond Lewis (1479413) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Warrant Officer Roderick De Burgh Morrison (415435) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Eric Richard Prince (1609895) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Joseph William Ivan Robinson (1082484) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer James Osmond Rivers Webster (161587) (RAFVR) (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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A9301, 415435