LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Colin Albert PEAK
Service No: 417110
Born: Burra SA, 5 September 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 6 December 1941
Unit: No. 9 Squadron (RAF), RAF Bardney, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations (No. 9 Squadron Lancaster aircraft DV198), France, 11 April 1944, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Nantes (Pont-du-Cens) Communal Cemetery Loire-Atlantique, France
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William Albert Henry and Rose Blanche Peak, of Tusmore, South Australia.
Roll of Honour: Burnside SA
Remembered: Panel 128, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
Lancaster DV198 took off from RAF Bardney at 2249 hours on the night of 10 April 1944 to bomb railway yards at Tours, France. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. Post war it was established that the aircraft crashed at St-Pierre-des-Corps a south eastern suburb of Paris when it was hit by anti-aircraft fire and exploded in the air. All the crew members were killed.
The crew members of DV198 were:
Sergeant John Hogan (1520414) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Eric Warnford Kindred (1582218) (RAF) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant John Weir Nelson (971413) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Pilot Officer Colin Albert Peak (417110) (Pilot)
Sergeant Vernon William George Torbett (1578567) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air)
Sergeant Thomas William Varey (1116187) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
First Lieutenant J E Wilkes (USAAF) (Bomb Aimer)
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, 166/32/351