LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Charles Raymond SKERRETT
Service No: 409240
Born: Bendigo VIC, 28 January 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 20 July 1941
Unit: No. 78 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Breighton
Died: Air Operations: (No. 78 Squadron Halifax aircraft JD416), Germany, 27 September 1943, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Hanover War Cemetery, Hannover, Niedersachsen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Capt. William Charles Skerrett and Amelia Skerrett, of Kew, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Kew VIC
Remembered: Panel 130, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1906 hours on the night of 27 September 1943 Halifax JD416 took off from Breighton detailed to bomb Hanover, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. A report by a Missing Research & Enquiry team stated “the aircraft was shot down near Wunstorf, which is 14 miles west of Hanover.” All the crew members were killed.
The crew members of JD416 were:
Sergeant Ronald William Dando (1322837) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Peter Jeffrey Elson (1317012) (RAFVR) (Second Pilot)
Sergeant Philip Robert Fox (575854) (RAF) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Ronald Hill (1218294) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Charles Raymond Skerrett (409240) (Pilot)
Sergeant John Philip Strachan (1320655) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Robert Martin Telfer (1046346) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Norman Edwin Weighell (1094049) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper 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 A705, 166/37/217