LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant James ROBERTS
Service No: 400310
Born: Hawick, Scotland, 11 September 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 18 August 1940 (at Melbourne VIC)
Unit: No. 75 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Feltwell
Died: Air Operations: (No. 75 Squadron Wellington aircraft X9914), Belgium, 23 October 1941, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Werken Churchyard, Kortenmark, West Vlaanderen, Belgium
CWGC Additional Information: Son of James and Gladys Roberts, of Sandringham, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Sandringham VIC
Remembered: Panel 129, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On the night of 22 October 1941Wellington X9914 took off from Feltwell detailed to bomb Mannheim, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. X9914 crashed near Werken (West Vlaanderen), 7 kms east south east of Diksmuide, Belgium. All the crew members were killed.
The crew members of X9914 were:
Sergeant Sidney Joseph Lawrence Levack (971231) (RAFVR) (Observer)
Sergeant James Roberts (400310) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Frederick Alexander Spark (401415) (RNZAF) (Second Pilot)
Sergeant William Reid Steele (1051619) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Robert Holtby Tasker (1381172) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Cyril Taylor (1100661) (RAFVR) (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, 163/158/195