LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Terence Patrick O’HARE
Service No: 421850
Born: Mudgee NSW, 22 March 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 28 March 1942
Unit: No. 102 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Pocklington
Died: Air Operations: (No. 102 Squadron Halifax aircraft HR867), Germany, 30 December 1943, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Martin and Mary Jane O’Hare, of Mudgee, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Mudgee NSW
Remembered: Panel 128, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Mudgee Memorial Clock Tower, Mudgee NSW
Remembered: Mudgee Soldiers Club World War II Roll of Honour, Mudgee NSW
At 1650 hours on the night of 29 December 1943 Halifax HR867 took off from Pocklington detailed to bomb Berlin. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. When homebound at 17,000 feet the aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire and shot down and crashed on the outskirts of Rhinow, which is approximately 48 miles north west of Berlin. The crew members all successfully baled out and were taken prisoner but Flight Sergeant O’Hare had been fatally wounded.
The crew members of HR867 were:
Flying Officer Edward Ludvig Carlson (J/20537) (RCAF) (Second Pilot) PoW
Sergeant Reginald Day (1434958) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator) PoW
Pilot Officer Augustus Charles Fraser (6145) (Pilot) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 2 October 1945
Flying Officer Harry Hope Hesketh (J/10058) (RCAF) (Navigator) PoW
Sergeant Robert Robertson McWhinnie (1559303) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber) PoW
Sergeant Robert Mundy (1054122) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer) PoW
Flight Sergeant Terence Patrick O’Hare (421850) (Rear Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Noel Livingstone Pearce (941082) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner) PoW
Pilot Officer Fraser later reported “Before the final run up to the target the aircraft was hit by flak, and the port inner engine was out of operation. On the bombing run the aircraft was again hit by flak and the starboard outer was put out of operation and the nose of the aircraft was blown off. The aircraft was not in control and the abandon order was given about 30 minutes later and acknowledged by the crew. O’Hare was among the first to leave the aircraft and was alive when he baled out. I found out later from the Germans at Dulag Luft that he had been killed by bullet wounds.”
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, 166/31/132
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line