LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Donald Richard PATTERSON DFC
Service No: 421932
Born: Neutral Bay NSW, 3 December 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 24 April 1942
Unit: No. 635 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Downham Market
Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), 12 February 1945
Died: Air Operations: (No. 635 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ND524), Germany, 24 December 1944, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Rheinberg Ware Cemetery, Kamp Lintfort Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Walter Thomas Patterson and Ethel Winnifred Patterson, of Kurrajong, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Kurrajong NSW
Remembered: Panel 128, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
The citation for the DFC awarded to Pilot Officer Patterson was a General Citation promulgated in London Gazette on 12 February 1946, Page 904.
At 1231 hours on the 24 December 1944, Lancaster ND524 took off from Downham Market detailed to attack the airfield at Lohausen, which was believed to be a key supply point for the offensive in the Ardennes. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. A Missing Research and Enquiry team later reported: ‘the aircraft was seen approaching
the village of Zons from Dusseldorf, it was losing height and after circling Zons three times it crashed about 300 yards from the village. The aircraft exploded on impact.” Six of the crew members were killed and two were taken prisoner.
The crew members of ND524 were:
Flying Officer Harry Samuel Davis (154512) (RAFVR) (Navigator Visual)
Flying Officer Arthur Charles Everett DFM (174693) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Lieutenant A H Hebblethwaite (136499) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner) PoW
Pilot Officer Alexander Donald Morrison DFC (423824) (Second Navigator)
Pilot Officer Donald Richard Patterson DFC (421932) (First Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Clifford Shaw DFM (1674657) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flight Lieutenant Albert Warnforth Walker (51345) (RAF) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant E Womble (1869216) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner) PoW
In a PoW report Flight Sergeant Womble stated: “the aircraft was hit in the front following concentrated fire and another hit pit the Inter Com unserviceable. We did a second run over the target but the aircraft was out of control from repeated hits. I baled out at 1,500 feet.”
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, 166/32/598