LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Benjamin Hartley SMITH
Service No: 424891
Born: Merewether NSW, 24 March 1914
Enlisted in the RAAF: 9 October 1942
Unit: No. 166 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Kirmington
Died: Air Operations: (No. 166 Squadron Lancaster aircraft NG297), Germany, 24 December 1944, Aged 30 Years
Buried: Rheinberg War Cemetery, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Benjamin David Charles and Alice Smith, of Merewether, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Newcastle NSW
Remembered: Panel 130, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Newcastle Boys High School Memorial Entrance World War II, Waratah NSW
At 1515 hours on the afternoon of 24 December 1944 Lancaster NG297 took off from Kirmington detailed to bomb Cologne, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed in the target area and all the crew members were killed.
The crew members of NG297 were:
Flying Officer Frank Josiah Booth (182236) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Peter Guthrie Cullen (1109838) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Charles Alexander Nixon (1796275) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Peter Anthony Joseph Offord (1808316) (RAF) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Thompson Alfred Rodgers (1880035) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant John Geoffrey Sherburn (3010170) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant Benjamin Hartley Smith (424891) (Navigator)
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, 166/38/345
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line