LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Harry Lawrence MOTTERAM
Service No: 427533
Born: Claremont WA, 22 January 1915
Enlisted in the RAAF: 19 July 1942
Unit: No. 49 Squadron (RAF), RAF Fulbeck, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations (No. 49 Squadron Lancaster aircraft PB370), Germany, 4 November 1944, Aged 29 Years
Buried: Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John Henry and Hilda Eula Motteram; husband of Winifred Motteram, of Claremont, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Claremont WA
Remembered: Panel 127, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
Brother of Sergeant Charles Lawrence Motteram (406401)
Lancaster PB370 took off from Fulbeck at 1741 on the night of 4 November 1944 in an attempt to breach the Dortmund-Ems Canal, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off, and it failed to return to base. A report by a Missing Research and Enquiry team stated “the aircraft exploded in the air and the seven crew members lost their lives.”
The crew members of PB370 were:
Flying Officer Royston Willett Berry (173187) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Flying Officer George Hadley Baily (427055) (Navigator)
Sergeant Stanley Raynor Crawshaw (1593188) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Pilot Officer William John Moroney (173188) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flying Officer Harry Lawrence Motteram (427533) (Air Bomber)
Flight Sergeant Leslie George Speak (436108) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Derrick Talbot (152410) (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 A705, 166/28/438