LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Ronald Mansfield OAKES
Service No: 422246
Born: Woolwich NSW, 3 February 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 25 April 1942
Unit: No. 115 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Witchford
Died: Air Operations: (No. 115 Squadron Lancaster aircraft DS7200, Germany, 14 January 1944, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Hanover War Cemetery, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Dudley Sedgwick Mansfield Oakes and Kathleen Stoney Oakes, of Willoughby, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Longueville NSW
Remembered: Panel 128, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1701 hours on the night of 14 January 1944 Lancaster DS720 took off from Witchford detailed to bomb Brunswick, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. A Missing Research & Enquiry team reported “Losses of 36 aircraft on this mission
were accounted for except for two of the aircraft. One of these crashed at Halchter approximately 8 miles south of Brunswick and the other crashed at Hope, 45 miles north west of Brunswick and on the direct route taken by aircraft in an attack on Brunswick from England. Although individual identification was not possible there is no reasonable doubt that the remains recovered are the 16 members of the 2 crews.”
The crew members of DS720 were:
Flight Sergeant William Charles Berry (1600195) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Pilot Officer Frank Sylvester Blackwell (415739) (RNZAF) (Pilot)
Flying Officer Kenneth Shirley Dickins (134058) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Reginald Jack Harris (1629001) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Douglas William McGhee (1332995) (RAFVR) (Second Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Ronald Mansfield Oakes (422246) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant Thomas Walter Soulsby (1675681) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Pilot Officer Charles Keith Waldrom (42344) (RNZAF) (Wireless Air Gunner)
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, 166/31/138