LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Lindsay John STEPHENS
Service No: 9037
Born: Glenelg SA, 18 August 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 13 February 1940 (at RAAF Station Laverton VIC)
Unit: No. 172 Squadron (RAF), RAF Chivenor, Devon
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 172 Squadron Wellington aircraft HF168), off the English Coast, 19 February 1944, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Horace Pascoe Stephens and Jessie Stephens, of Glenelg, South Australia
Roll of Honour: Glenelg SA
Remembered: Panel 261, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 130, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
Wellington HF168 of No. 172 Squadron took off from RAF Chivenor at 1945 hours on 19 February 1944 to carry out a night navigation exercise, and practice descents from 1,000 feet to 50 feet at intervals along the track making use of the Leigh Light for attacks on flame floats. The aircraft was fitted with a radio altimeter. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. In 1949 it was recorded that the missing crew had lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of HF168 were:
Sergeant Bernard Cohen (1398772) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Lloyd Remington Joseph Meech (J/85860) (RCAF) (Pilot)
Pilot Officer Arthur Frankland Moore (J/93802) (RCAF) (Second Pilot)
Sergeant John Richardson (1566574) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Lindsay John Stephens (9037) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Flight Sergeant Joseph Wendelin Torscher (R/159188) (RAF) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/38/430