LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Geoffrey Clement PRAAGST
Service No: 400761
Born: Murchison VIC, 5 October 1909
Enlisted in the RAAF: 13 October 1940
Unit: No. 12 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Binbrook, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 12 Squadron Wellington aircraft W5361), Netherlands, 31 May 1942, Aged 32 Years
Buried: Amsterdam New Eastern Cemetery, Noord-Holland, Netherlands
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Dr. George Daniel Praagst and Annie Lyddiard Praagst, of Surrey Hills, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Murchison VIC
Remembered: Panel 129, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Wellington W5361 took off from Binbrook at 2242 hours on the night of 30/31 May 1942 to bomb Cologne, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. It was later established that the aircraft was shot down by anti-aircraft fire and crashed at 0026 hours at Badhoevedorp (Noord-Holland), close to Schiphol airport, south west Amsterdam.
All the crew members were killed.
The crew members of W5361 were:
Sergeant James Brown (1378840) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant William James Callaghan (981131) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Flight Lieutenant Anthony Bremner Payne DFC (84921) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant Geoffrey Clement Praagst (400761) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Benjamin Sigler (1293656) (RAFVR) (Second Pilot)
Sergeant Jack Wise (1264306) (RAFVR) (Observer)
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, 163/1522/185