LEST WE FORGET

Sergeant Alexander Alwyn PROWSE

Service No: 21144
Born: Adelong NSW, 27 April 1917
Enlisted in the RAAF: 13 may 1940
Unit: No. 12 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Wickenby
Died: Air Operations: (No. 12 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ED967), Germany, 26 May 1943, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Kleve, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Walter Clarence and Florence Maud Prowse, of Muswellbrook, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Muswellbrook NSW
Remembered: Panel 129, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Muswellbrook War Memorial, Muswellbrook NSW
Remembered: Roseville War Memorial, Roseville NSW

Lancaster ED967 took off from Wickenby at 0037 hours on the morning of 26 May 1943 to bomb Dusseldorf, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. It was later established that the aircraft crashed at Ratingen, Germany, and all the crew members had been killed.

The crew members of ED967 were:

Sergeant Sydney Arthur James Bailey (1332267) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant Douglas William Creevy (1330741) (RAFVR) (Bomb Aimer)
Flying Officer Cecil Bertie Hooper (129598) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Edward Temple Powell (1082026) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Alexander Alwyn Prowse (21144) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant Leslie Charles Schroeder (1339266) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Robert James Steele (655242) (RAF) (Pilot)

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, 166/33/42
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line

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