LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant George Sarsfield SLOMAN
Service No: 403036
Born: Glen Innes NSW, 6 April 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 7 December 1940
Unit: No. 35 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Graveley
Died: Air Operations: (No. 35 Squadron Halifax aircraft W7877), Netherlands, 2 March 1943, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Markelo General Cemetery, Overijssel, Netherlands
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Alexander and Ellen Sloman, of Concord, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Sydney NSW
Remembered: Panel 130, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Concord war memorial, Concord NSW
At 1824 hours on the night of 1March 1943 Halifax W7877 took off from Graveley to bomb Berlin. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. It was later established that the aircraft was shot down by a night fighter and crashed at 0037 hours at Oost-Stokkum (Overijssel), 6 kms south west of Goor, Netherlands. Six crew members lost their lives and one became a Prisoner of War.
The crew members of W7877 were:
Flight Sergeant G C H Chandler (1258999) (RAF) (Navigator) PoW
Squadron Leader Peter Campbell Elliott DFC (42401) (RAF) (Pilot)
Sergeant Denis Kelly (1384311) (RAFVR) (Mid Gunner)
Sergeant Roy Victor Ledger (1330439) (RAFVR) (Second Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Thomas Neville Sankey DFM (612042) (RAF) (Rear Gunner)
Flight Sergeant George Sarsfield Sloman (403036) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Stanley Langford Conway Watts AFM (216038) (RAF) (Flight Engineer)
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, 166/10/18
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line