LEST WE FORGET
Warrant Officer Frank Esbert MULLER
Service No: 405640
Born: Toowoomba QLD, 14 August 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 27 April 1941
Unit: No. 612 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Chivenor
Died: Air Operations: (No. 612 Squadron Wellington aircraft HF170), English Channel area, 18 March 1944, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Frank Joseph Nicolaus Muller and Isobel Mabel Muller, of Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Toowoomba QLD
Remembered: Panel 259, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 127, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2149 hours on 17 March 1944 Wellington HF170 took off from Chivenor to carry out a 10 hour anti-submarine patrol. At 0320 hours on 18 March No. 19 Group sent out a message to all aircraft to return to base immediately. This was acknowledged by HF170. No 19 Group subsequently called HF 170 and received no reply. At 1030 hours on 18 March the aircraft had not returned to base, and overdue action was taken. Following post war enquiries and investigations, it was recorded in 1949 that the missing crew members had lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of HF170 were:
Sergeant Roland Clewer (1319660) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Sergeant George Crabb (1433134) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air)
Warrant Officer Frank Esbert Muller (405640) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Sergeant Raymond Nash (1575024) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air)
Flight Sergeant Raymond Charles Smith (1338128) (RAFVR) (Second Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Antony Verdon (657777) (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, 166/28/258