LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Allan Joseph Lyall SEDUNARY DFC
Service No: 416619
Born: Victor Harbour SA, 23 December 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 21 July 1941
Unit: No. 75 Squadron (RAF), RAF Mepal, Cambridgeshire
Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), 3 April 1945 (Citation Title: No. 75 Squadron (RAF))
Died: Air Operations (No. 75 Squadron Stirling aircraft BF564), Germany, 24 August 1943, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Alfred Lyall Sedunary and Caroline Agnes Sedunary, of Victor Harbour, South Australia.
Roll of Honour: Victor Harbour SA
Remembered: Panel 130, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
DFC Citation: Pilot Officer Sedunary has taken part in many successful operational sorties, including attacks on heavily defended targets in the Ruhr valley and Hamburg. An outstanding captain of aircraft, he has invariably displayed determination of the highest order.
Stirling BF564 took off from RAF Mepal at 2051 hours on the night of 23 August 1943, detailed to bomb Berlin. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. A Missing Research and Enquiry team report stated “the aircraft crashed between Wiesenhagen and Martensmuhle presumably as a result of enemy action on the 24th August 1944. Martensmuhle is 40 kms south west of Berlin.” All the crew members were killed.
The crew members of BF 564 were:
Sergeant Frank Kitchener Alcock MID (532245) (RAF) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant John James Gratton (1351568) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Aubrey Lens (149672) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Francis Patrick Lundon (404718) (RNZAF) (Pilot)
Pilot Officer Douglas Hamilton Moss (404653) (RNZAF) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Jack Ernest Nicholson (1800467) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Cecil Reginald Parish (1332576) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Pilot Officer Allan Joseph Lyall Sedunary DFC (416619) (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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/161/236