LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Percy William ROWLING
Service No: 401287
Born: Dimboola VIC, 14 August 1912
Enlisted in the RAAF: 6 January 1941
Unit: No. 50 Squadron (RAF), RAF Skellingthorpe, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 50 Squadron Lancaster aircraft W4382), North West Europe, 18 December 1942, Aged 30 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Richard James Rowling and Mary Frances Rowling, of Horsham, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Charlton VIC
Remembered: Panel 111, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 129, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Lancaster W4382 of No. 50 Squadron took off from RAF Station Skellingthorpe at 1705 hours on the night of 17 December 1942 to attack a target at Soltau, Germany. Post war investigations and enquiries failed to reveal any trace of the missing aircraft or crew, and in 1950 it was recorded that the crew had lost their lives with no known grave.
The crew members of W4382 were:
Flight Lieutenant John Charles Atkinson (120725) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant Francis Martin (951050) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant James Cornelius O’Neill (402604) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Sergeant John Mason Reilly (702772) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Percy William Rowling (401287) (Navigator)
Pilot Officer Henry William Joseph Smith DFM (404622) (Air Bomber)
Flying Officer Charles William Walker (407956) (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, 163/55/253
Bibliography:
Lang, Noella The Rest of My Life with No. 50 Squadron: from the diaries and letters of Flying Officer P W Rowling, Access Press, Northbridge WA 6000, 1997 (Noella Lang is the younger sister of Percy Rowling)