LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Joseph SHEEN
Service No: 423261
Born: Dubbo NSW, 28 June 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 20 June 1942
Unit: No. 100 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Grimsby, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 100 Squadron Lancaster aircraft LL915), France, 26 July 1944, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Verrieres Churchyard, Aube, France
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Charles Henry Joseph and Alma Joyce Sheen, of Raymond Terrace, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Raymond Terrace NSW
Remembered: Panel 130, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: St John’s Anglican Church Raymond Terrace – Memorial Stone, Raymond Terrace NSW
Remembered: Raymond Terrace War Memorial, Raymond Terrace NSW
Remembered: St John’s Memorial Sun Dial, Raymond Terrace NSW
Lancaster LL915 took off from Grimsby at 2138 hours on the night of 25/26 July 1944, detailed to bomb Stuttgart, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed at Verrieres (Aube), 10 kms south south east of Troyes, France, and all the crew members were killed.
The crew members of LL915 were:
Flying Officer Douglas Payne Billman (423045) (Pilot)
Sergeant Anthony John Bramble (1605017) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Roy Kenneth Dove (577055) (RAF) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant John George Furness Evans (1678129) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant James Melville (1594563) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Flying Officer Royston Edwards Monk (52571) (RAF) (Air Bomber)
Flight Sergeant Joseph Sheen (423261) (Wireless 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 Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A 705, 166/5/635
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line