LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Ronald Henderson OSBORNE
Service No: 418560
Born: Benalla VIC, 31 October 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 23 May 1942
Unit: No. 218 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Woolfox Lodge
Died: Air Operations: (No. 218 Squadron Stirling aircraft EF504), France, 2 May 1944, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Poix-de-Picardie Churchyard, Somme, France
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William Thomas Lowe Osborne and Eleanor Frances Osborne, of Goorambat, Victoria, Australia. His brother Edgar Thomas Leslie also died on service
Roll of Honour: Melbourne VIC
Remembered: Panel 128, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Brother of Flight Sergeant Edgar Thomas Leslie Osborne (409272)
At 2214 hours on the night of 1 May 1944 Stirling EF504 took off from Woolfox Lodge detailed to bomb the railway and stores depot at Chambly. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed on 2 May 1944 in the vicinity of Poix-de-la-Somme, France. Five of the crew members were killed and two evaded capture.
The crew members of EF504 were:
Warrant Officer II Murray Richard Bell (R/157097) (RCAF) (Air Gunner)
Flight Lieutenant Officer Ieuan Iorwerth Jones (120982) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Ronald Henderson Osborne (418560) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Alfred Arthur Snook (1380349) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air)
Flying Officer S D Taylor (J/14635) (RCAF) (Navigator) Evaded capture
Flying Officer Robert Ernest Samuel Twining (158562) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant E W Wright (1813283) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer) Evaded capture
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, 166/31/187