LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Alfred James STAPLETON
Service No: 425238
Born: Manchester, England, 24 September 1910
Enlisted in the RAAF: 31 January 1942 (at Brisbane QLD)
Unit: No. 102 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Pocklington
Died: Air Operations: (No. 102 Squadron Halifax aircraft HX155), off the German Coast, 16 February 1944, Aged 33 Years
Buried: Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Alfred Edward and Lilac Stapleton; husband of Marjorie Stapleton, of Gladstone, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Macleay District NSW
Remembered: Panel 130, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1727 hours on the night of 15 February 1944 Halifax HX155 took off from Pocklington detailed to bomb Berlin. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. It was considered that the aircraft was shot down into the sea off the German coast either on its way to or from the target. All the crew members lost their lives.
The crew members of HX155 were:
Pilot Officer James Arthur Downs (170437) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Jasper Mayton Watson Filmer (J/14184) (RCAF) (Rear Gunner)
Flight Sergeant William Frederick Johnson (1392448) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Pilot Officer Ananda Kularatne (158038) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Pilot Officer William Mason Maxwell Manser (J/18903) (RCAF) (Air Bomber)
Pilot Officer Kenneth William Sherlock (172498) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Pilot Officer Alfred James Stapleton (425238) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant Ralph Whitaker (1439598) (RAFVR) (Second Pilot)
The body of Pilot Officer Stapleton was recovered from the sea on 22 February 1944. The other crew members have no known graves and their names are commemorated on the Memorial to the Missing, Runnymede, Surrey, UK.
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, 166/38/429