LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant David Kingsley POWERS
Service No: 430051
Born: Kew VIC, 20 August 1924
Enlisted in the RAAF: 4 December 1942
Unit: No. 166 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Kirmington
Died: Air Operations: (No. 166 Squadron Lancaster aircraft PD261), Germany, 30 August 1944, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Poznan Old Garrison Cemetery, Poland
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Frank and Myrtle Gwendoline Powers, of North Brighton, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Kew VIC
Remembered: Panel 129, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2110 hours on the night of 29 August 1944 Lancaster PD261 took off from Kirmington detailed to bomb Stettin, Germany. 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 crashed in Stettin presumably as the result of enemy action and all the crew members were killed.”
The crew members of PD261 were:
Sergeant John James Carey (1069049) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant Trevor Hugh Davis (617912) (RAF) (Air Bomber)
Flight Lieutenant Frederick Ross Dunton (126830) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Robert Edward Harding (433103) (Navigator)
Sergeant Charles Malachi Murray (535937) (RAF) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant James Henry Peake (1533257) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Flight Sergeant David Kingsley Powers (430051) (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, 166/334/211