LEST WE FORGET
Warrant Officer John Armstrong MURPHY
Service No: 413020
Born: Gilgandra NSW, 23 March 1917
Enlisted in the RAAF: 15 August 1941
Unit: No. 156 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Upwood
Died: Air Operations: (No. 156 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ND406), Germany, 31 March 1944, Aged 27 Years
Buried: Rheinberg War Cemetery, Kamp Lintfort, Nordrhein-Westfal, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John James Murphy and Lilian Murphy, of Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Parramatta NSW
Remembered: Panel 127, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2235 hours on the night of 30 March 1944 Lancaster ND406 took off from Upwood detailed to bomb Nurnberg, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. When outbound the aircraft was shot down by a JU88 and crashed near Holzweiler. Six
of the crew members were killed and one was thrown clear as the aircraft exploded and was taken prisoner.
The crew members of ND406 were:
Sergeant John Baldwin (1818187) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Harold Leslie Hepworth (1216360) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Arthur Charles Kendrick (1585679) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Warrant Officer John Armstrong Murphy (413020) (Pilot)
Flying Officer Irving John Toppings (J/14576) (RCAF) (Navigator)
Warrant Officer George Robert Newton Wood (412792) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant L W Wooliscroft (1233513) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner) PoW
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, 166/28/268