LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Ronald Leslie NEAL
Service No: 411227
Born: Grenfell NSW, 20 May 1910
Enlisted in the RAAF: 27 April 1941
Unit: No. 460 Squadron, RAF Binbrook, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 460 Squadron Lancaster aircraft LM523), Germany, 28 April 1944, Aged 33 Years
Buried: Durnbach War Cemetery, Bad Tolz, Bayern, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Fredrick Earnest and Ethel May Neal; husband of Hazel Irene Neal, of St. Mary’s New South Wales, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Greenethorpe NSW
Remembered: Panel 108, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Grenfell World War II Memorial, Grenfell NSW
Friedrichshafen, on the shores of Lake Constance, a very important centre of aircraft, tank-engine, gearbox and radar production, was attacked on 27th-28th April by 322 aircraft drawn mainly from No. 1 Group. In addition to 20 Lancasters of No. 460 Squadron, 17 other Australians captained aircraft engaged on this raid which took place in good visibility from 20,000 feet. The initial marking was accurate and a “Master of Ceremonies” closely controlled the whole operation with the result that within 15 minutes the whole area was afire and rent by heavy explosions. Three Dornier factories, the Maybach tank-engine plant, the Zahnradfabrik works and the Zeppelin hangar were heavily damaged, together with more than half of the residential and business areas. The experiences of crews on this eight hours and a half flight varied widely, many captains reporting a quiet trip while later arrivals had to face fighters over the target. Three Lancasters of No. 460 were among the 21 shot down, and Pilot Officer Cullen of the same squadron, off course on his outward journey was heavily engaged by the Strasbourg gun defences but continued on to Friedrichshafen and brought his crippled aircraft safely home.
Extract from Herington, J. (John) (406545) Air War Over Europe 1944-1945, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1963 – Pages 18-19
Lancaster LM523 took off from RAF Binbrook at 2127 hours on the night of 27 April 1944 to bomb Friedrichshafen, Germany. Bomb load 1 x 1000 lb (450 kg), 1 x 500 lb (225 kg) bomb, 84 x 30 lb (14 kg) and 960 x 4 lb (2 kg) incendiaries. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. Twenty aircraft from the squadron took part in the raid, and three of these aircraft including LM 523 failed to return. Post war it was established that the aircraft was shot down by a night fighter and crashed at Lahr.
The crew members of LM523 were:
Flying Officer Marmion Wilfred Carroll DFC (408034) (Navigator)
Sergeant Douglas George Champkin (1874746) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flying Officer Hector Ronald Harrison (404467) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Francis Gordon Jackson DFC (404503) (Bomb Aimer)
Squadron Leader Eric George Delancey Jarman DFC (404507) (Pilot)
Pilot Officer Thomas Joseph Lynch (414807) (Rear Gunner) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 20 February 1946
Flying Officer Ronald Leslie Neal (411227) (Mid Upper Gunner)
No. 460 Squadron lost Lancaster ND364 (Warrant Officer Joseph Leary (415259) (Pilot)) on 28 April 1944.
No. 460 Squadron lost Lancaster LL906 (Flying Officer George Henry Brown (1338347) (RAFVR) (Pilot)) on 28 April 1944.
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Chorley W R, Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War – Volume 5 Aircraft and Aircrew Losses 1944, Midland counties Publications, 1997
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, 166/29/116
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line
Bibliography:
Firkins, P. C. (Peter Charles) (441386) Strike and Return, Westward Ho Publishing City Beach WA, 1985