LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Theodore George RICHARDS
Service No: 402006
Born: Burwood NSW, 3 July 1911
Enlisted in the RAAF: 28 April 1940
Unit: No. 223 Squadron (RAF), Amriya, Egypt
Died: Air Operations: (No. 223 Squadron Baltimore aircraft AG852), Egypt, 2 November 1942, Aged 31 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Norman Septimus Richards, and of Muriel Aldwell Richards, of Mosman, New South Wales, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Sydney NSW
Remembered: Column 265, Alamein Memorial, Egypt
Remembered: Panel 129, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Baltimore AG852 of 223 Squadron was one of a formation of aircraft in an operation to bomb stores at Chazal Station on 2 November 1942. Over the target there was heavy anti-aircraft fire, and AG 852 was hit, blew up and seen to leave the formation going down in flames. One of the crew was seen to bale out, but it was impossible to state who it was. There was no further news of the aircraft or crew which did not return to base. Flight Sergeant Middleton is buried in the El Alamein War Cemetery, Egypt. The search for the graves of the remaining missing crew members was abandoned in 1946.
The crew members of AG852 were:
Flight Sergeant Colin Maxwell Chenoweth (407198) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Warrant Officer Alan Campbell Maclure (401133) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Leonard Stewart Middleton (406400) (Observer)
Flight Sergeant Theodore George Richards (402006) (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, 163/157/157