LEST WE FORGET
Warrant Officer Bruce STENNING
Service No: 420294
Born: Neutral Bay NSW, 11 March 1917
Enlisted in the RAAF: 11 October 1941
Unit: No. 296 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 296 Squadron Albermarle aircraft P1501), France, 9 August 1944, Aged 27 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of George Thomas Stenning and Hilda C. Stenning, of Crows Nest, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Sydney NSW
Remembered: Panel 259, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 130, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2230 hours on the night of 8 August 1944 Albermarle P1501 took off from RAF Station Brize Norton to carry out a small arms supply drop to the Maquis at position 47.00.14N 000.40.39E. The aircraft failed to return from this mission. It was established post war that the aircraft had been shot down by a German night fighter and crashed about 0300 hours on 9 August 1944 at Val D’ize near Vitre (Ille et Vilaine). The Mayor stated that it was not possible for any member of the crew to escape, with the aircraft crashing in flames and disintegrating. The body of Sergeant Cowham had been recovered along with the remains of one unidentified member and both are buried at Bayeaux, France. A memorial plaque has also been installed in the cemetery to commemorate the missing members of the crew.
The crew members of P1501 were:
Flight Sergeant Edwin Raymond Abell (1474271) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Ralph Cowham (1046044) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air)
Flight Sergeant Arthur Francis Charles Elwood (655623) (RAF) (Wireless Operator Air)
Flight Sergeant Charles Alfred Hammond (530448) (RAF) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Frederick Norman Manton (1358051) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Warrant Officer Bruce Stenning (420294) (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, 163/163/333