LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant Norman Thomas Riggall POULTON DFM
Service No: 400820
Born: Leongatha VIC, 23 September 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 8 November 1940
Unit: No. 156 Squadron (RAF), RAF Warboys, Cambridgeshire
Awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal (DFM), 9 July 1943 (Citation Title: No. 12 Squadron RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 156 Squadron Lancaster aircraft JB216), North West Europe, 16 December 1943, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Albert Norman and Doris Colina Manson Poulton, of Gordon, New South Wales, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 187, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 129, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
DFM Citation: “Flight Sergeant Poulton of No 12 Squadron has taken part in a large number of operational sorties, including such heavily defended targets as Berlin, Essen, Hamburg and Wilhelmshaven where heavy anti-aircraft fire and searchlight opposition were encountered. Throughout his operational career, Flight Sergeant Poulton has shown great coolness in guiding his pilots to the target with complete disregard of enemy opposition and his outstanding enthusiasm has been an inspiration to his fellow bomb aimers.”
Lancaster JB216 of 156 Squadron took off from RAF Station Warboys at 1628 hours on 16 December 1943, to carry out a bombing attack on Berlin. At 1845 hours a fix was obtained of the aircraft over North Sea in position 52.22N 002.48E approximately 200 miles from base. No further message received from the aircraft which did not return to base. The aircraft and crew were lost without trace.
The crew members of JB216 were:
Flight Lieutenant Charles Oscar Aubert DFM (403490) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant William Starkey Fisher (1098374) (RAFVR)
Squadron Leader Ronald Hadley DFC (102608) (RAFVR)
Flight Lieutenant Norman Thomas Riggall Poulton DFM (400820) (Bomb Aimer)
Flight Lieutenant Leslie John Powell DFC (406873) (Rear Gunner)
Flight Lieutenant John Frederick Samuel DFC (400999) (Navigator)
Flying Officer Robert Sidney Smith DFC (403766) (Wireless Operator)
Flight Lieutenant Theodore Trilsbeck DFC (J/10163) (RCAF)
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, 166/33/117