LEST WE FORGET

Pilot Officer Norman Henry ORCHARD

Service No: 419136
Born: Geelong VIC, 6 July 1924
Enlisted in the RAAF: 14 July 1942
Unit: No. 463 Squadron, RAF Station Waddington, Lincolnshire
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 463 Squadron Lancaster aircraft LM130), Lincolnshire, 11 March 1945, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Cambridge City Cemetery, Cambridgeshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Stanley Edwin and Annie Cecilia Orchard, of Geelong, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Geelong VIC
Remembered: Panel 109, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT

Lancaster LM130 took off from RAF Waddington on 11 March 1945 on a fighter affiliation training exercise. During the exercise the aircraft collided with Hurricane PZ740 of 1690 Flight. LM130 crashed into the Ashholt Field at Blankney village, 9 miles north of Sleaford, Lincolnshire and all the crew members were killed. The Hurricane pilot was also killed.

The crew members of LM130 were:

Sergeant David Arthur Charles (1653100) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant William Frederick Henry Elcome (1891020) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Reginald Frederick Neale (1386352) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Pilot Officer Norman Henry Orchard (419136) (Pilot)
Sergeant Bernard John Patch (1812236) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Harold Rollins (1588200) (RAFVR) (Bomb Aimer)
Sergeant Harold Shaw (1811658) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)

The pilot of Hurricane PZ140 was:

Pilot Officer Sidney Frederick Parlato DFC (415778) (RNZAF)

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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/31/337

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