LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Roy Roberts STAIN DFM
Service No: 402619
Born: Sydney NSW, 3 October 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 16 September 1940
Unit: No. 156 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Warboys
Awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal (DFM)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 156 Squadron Lancaster aircraft JB711), North West Europe, 24 December 1943, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Roy Lyle Stain and Dulcie Maude Stain, of South Curl Curl, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Manly NSW
Remembered: Panel 189, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 130, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
DFM Citation: Flight Sergeant Stain as a member of No. 460 Squadron RAAF has taken part in numerous operations against targets in Germany and occupied Europe, sixteen of which were over heavily defended industrial areas of the Ruhr and Rhineland. Possessing a fine fighting spirit he has set an example by his keenness and devotion to duty.
At 0035 hours on 24 December 1943 Lancaster JB711 took off from Warboys to attack Berlin. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it did not return to base. Following post war enquiries and investigations, it was recorded in 1950 that the missing crew had no known grave.
The crew members of JB711 were:
Flight Sergeant Robert Norman Victor Daniel (1318026) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant John Hill (1396171) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Frederick John Manley (1410557) (RAFVR) (Bomb Aimer)
Flight Sergeant Frederick Henry Morgan (929015) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant Thomas Emrys Rees (1277699) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flying Officer Roy Roberts Stain DFM (402619) (Wireless Operator/Air)
Flying Officer Norman John Warfield DFM (143227) (RAFVR) (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 Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/38/373