LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Alan James Wesley MUDFORD
Service No: 423829
Born: Redfern NSW, 23 December 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 18 July 1942
Unit: No. 550 Squadron (RAF), RAF station North Killingholme
Died: Air Operations: (No. 550 Squadron Lancaster aircraft LL796), France, 13 July 1944, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Perreuse Chateau Franco British National Cemetery, Seine-et-Marne, France
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Heber Wesley Mudford and Elizabeth Ada Mudford, of Wauchope, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 127, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Taree World War II and Post War Memorials, Taree NSW
Remembered: Tinonee War Memorial Hall, Tinonee NSW
At 2137 hours on the night of 12/13 July 1944, Lancaster LL796 took off from North Killingholme detailed to destroy rail facilities at Revigny, France. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft was homebound with its bomb load intact when it was intercepted by a night fighter and crashed near Faines-les-Sources (Meuse). All the crew members were killed.
The crew members of LL796 were:
Flying Officer Walter Boocock (422251) (RNZAF) (Pilot)
Sergeant Leonard Eagles Dagless ((48192) (RAF) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Morris Charles Eckhold (392026) (RNZAF) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Alan James Wesley Mudford (423829) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Malcolm Muir (802563) (RAF (Auxiliary Air Force)) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant Trevor Setchfield (1429948) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Geoffrey Thomas Sutherland (1892870) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
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, 166/28/354
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line