LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Robert Edward Duncan RICHARDS
Service No: 413254
Born: Bathurst NSW, 12 November 1915
Enlisted in the RAAF: 16 August 1941
Unit: No. 576 Squadron (RAF), RAF Elsham Wolds, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 576 Squadron Lancaster aircraft W 4337), Germany, 3 December 1943, Aged 28 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Robert John and Linda May Richards, of Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 193, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 129, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On the night of 2/3rd December 1943, Lancaster W 4337 took off from Elsham Wolds at 1705 hours, detailed to bomb Berlin. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off, and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed in the vicinity of Monchengladbach, and all the crew members were killed.
The crew members of W 4337 were:
Flight Sergeant John Milton Booth (420334) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Lloyd William Lewis Godfrey (418387) (Bomb Aimer)
Flight Sergeant Murray Noel Jennings (420836) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Maurice William Jones (417959) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant George Henry Kaye (1590013) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant Robert Edward Duncan Richards (413254) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Douglas Richard Gordon Taskis (418584) (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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia on-Line Record A705, 166/35/190