LEST WE FORGET

Flight Sergeant John Charles PERRY

Service No: 410721
Born: Bendigo VIC, 9 January 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 31 January 1942
Unit: No. 57 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station East Kirkby
Died: Air Operations: (No. 57 Squadron Lancaster aircraft W5008), Germany, 28 August 1943, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Durnbach War Cemetery, Bad Tolz, Bayern, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Rupert John and Ruby Amelia Perry, of Carnegie, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Caulfield VIC
Remembered: Panel 128, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT

At 2131hours on the night of 27 August 1943 Lancaster W5008 took off from East Kirkby detailed to bomb Nuremburg, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed near the village of Zeckern, 18 miles north west of Nuremburg, presumably as a result of enemy action. Six crew members were killed and one became a Prisoner of War.

The crew members of W5008 were:

Sergeant Thomas Raymond Crowther (1414489) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Flying Officer Paul Albert Levy (127244) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant Walter Stanley Lynn (1615745) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant William MacKillop (R/124707) (RCAF) (Navigator)
Pilot Officer R May (158045) (RAF) (Air Bomber) PoW
Flight Sergeant John Charles Perry (410721) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant William Charles Marcus Thomas (1203830) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)

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, 166/32/1176

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