LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Bernard MOXHAM
Service No: 410845
Born: Newmarket VIC, 8 May 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 27 February 1942
Unit: No. 103 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Wickenby
Died: Air Operations: (No. 103 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ND847), Germany, 27 April 1944, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Leo Austin Moxham and Alice Moxham, of Moonee Ponds, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 261, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 127, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2304 hours on the night of 26 April 1944, Lancaster ND847 took off from Wickenby to attack Essen, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. Following post war investigations, it was established that the aircraft had been hit by anti-aircraft fire, exploded in mid-air and crashed at Buderich near Dusseldorf. Flight Sergeant Moxham has no known grave while the remaining six crew members are interred at the Rheinberg War Cemetery.
The crew members of ND847 were:
Flight Sergeant Duncan Neilson Bell (592073) (RAF) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant Henry Greenfield (2215845) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Warrant Officer II Donald Grant Leask (R/155039) (RCAF) (Air Bomber)
Flight Sergeant Bernard Moxham (410845) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Arthur Leslie Nichols (125686) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Francis Patrick Morgan Quinn (R/179363) (RCAF) (Rear Gunner)
Flying Officer Frank Shepherd (172464) (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 Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/28/291
Bibliography:
Charlwood, D.E.C. (Donald Ernest Cameron) (408794) No Moon Tonight (Angus and Robertson 1956), Penguin Ringwood VIC, 3134, 1991