LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Albert Edward OBERG
Service No: 420493
Born: Wollongong NSW, 26 June 1911
Enlisted in the RAAF: 8 November 1941
Unit: No. 57 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station East Kirkby
Died: Air Operations: (No. 57 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ND475), Cambridgeshire, 19 April 1944, Aged 32 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Edwin Thomas Oberg and Helena Oberg; husband of Minna Louisa May Oberg, of Punchbowl, New South Wales, Australia. Solicitor
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 258, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 128, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Lancaster ND475 from East Kirby had taken part in a raid on an enemy target in France, and was on its return flight when it crashed 2 miles south east of Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire, at 0133 hours on 19 April 1944. The aircraft was returning with the main bomber force, when it dived vertically into the ground at high speed and was completely destroyed by the impact and fire. It is not know whether the crash was caused by enemy action as it was completely destroyed. The remains of Sergeant Willis were recovered and interred, with the remaining crew recorded as having no known grave.
The crew members of ND475 were:
Pilot Officer Henry Harris Adams (174599) (RAFVR)
Pilot Officer Ronald Firth Culliford (425129) (Second Pilot)
Pilot Officer Edmund Forbes Crossley (174670) (RAFVR)
Sergeant William Duncan Kinnes (1522824) (RAFVR)
Pilot Officer Albert Edward Oberg (420493) (Pilot)
Pilot Officer Herbert Rex Pizzey (17469) (RAFVR)
Sergeant Joseph Stewart Richards (1394671) (RAFVR)
Sergeant John Frederick Willis (2208994) (RAFVR)
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, 166/31/179