LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant John Leo O’BRIEN
Service No: 425740
Born: Toowoomba QLD, 1 September 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 26 April 1942
Unit: No. 514 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Waterbeach
Died: Air Operations: (No. 514 Squadron Lancaster aircraft DS735), Germany, 30 January 1944, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of James and Martha Catherine O’Brien, of Yargullen, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Oakey QLD
Remembered: Panel 128, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1722 hours on the night of 30 January 1944, Lancaster DS735 took off from Waterbeach detailed to bomb Berlin. The aircraft carried 1 x 4000lbs bomb, 4 x 150 x 4kbs, 4 x 8 x 30lbs, 1 x 90 x 4lbs incendiaries, and 9000 rounds of ammunition., 1850 gallons of petrol for approximately 8 hours flying with the trip anticipated to take 6.5 hours. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed one mile south of the village of Muetzlitz, which is approximately 10 miles north of Brandenberg, Germany. Three of the crew members were killed and five became Prisoners of War.
The crew members of DS735 were:
Sergeant Jack Sidney Carey (575818) (RAF) (Flight Engineer) PoW
Flight Lieutenant George Joseph Chequer (J/21428) (RCAF) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Raymond Leslie Gulliford (1317103) (RAFVR) (Second Pilot) PoW
Sergeant Robert Montgomery (1366420) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Kenneth Mortimer (1431168) (RAFVR) (Navigator) PoW, Killed during an Air Raid: 19 April 1945
Flight Sergeant John Leo O’Brien (425740) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Alexander John Robertson (418509) (Rear Gunner) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 30 January 1946
Flight Sergeant Eric James Wallington (1391252) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber) 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, 166/31/145