LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Desmond Michael Leonid O’HALLORAN
Service No: 422978
Born: Tientsin, China, 18 January 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 15 June 1942 (at Sydney NSW)
Unit: No. 166 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Kirmington
Died: Air Operations: (No. 166 Squadron Lancaster aircraft PD397), Germany, 24 December 1944, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Rheinberg War Cemetery, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Michael and Anastasia O’Halloran, of Galway, Irish Republic
Roll of Honour: Bathurst NSW
Remembered: Panel 128, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: University of Sydney World War 2 Roll of Honour, Camperdown NSW
Remembered: Concord War Memorial, Concord NSW
Lancaster PD397 took off from RAF Kirmington at 1450 hours on the afternoon of 24 December, detailed to bomb Cologne, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed in the target area with six of the crew killed and one taken prisoner.
The crew members of PD397 were:
Sergeant Leonard Reuben Ayres (1623324) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Lieutenant John Morgan Barrass (134083) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Ronald Bolt (1594020) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Warrant Officer Ronald Arthur Dowe (423196) (Navigator)
Sergeant Sydney Marshall (539072) (RAF) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant R E McCann (1450055) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner) PoW
Flight Sergeant Desmond Michael Leonid O’Halloran (422978) (Air Bomber)
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, 166/31/293
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line