LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Kenneth Hastings POYNTING
Service No: 403786
Born: Sydney NSW, 18 May 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 3 March 1941
Unit: No. 27 Operational Training Unit (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 27 Operational Training Unit Wellington aircraft R1162), North West Europe, 26 June 1942, Aged 23 years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of James Francis and Ruby Poynting, of Punchbowl, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 113, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 129, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Wellington R1162 took off shortly before midnight on 25 June 1942 on a night operation against Bremen, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off, and it did not return to base. Other crews reported that the aircraft was possibly shot down over the target. Following post war enquiries and investigations, it was recorded in 1949 that the missing crew members had no known graves.
The crew members of R1162 were:
Sergeant Neville Holt Cox (405174) (Observer)
Pilot Officer Thomas Fraser Lamb (J/7422) (RCAF) (Pilot)
Sergeant James Bruce Mathers (403940) (Observer)
Sergeant Kenneth Hastings Poynting (403786) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Sergeant James Murray Synnott (400442) (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, 163/152/194