LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Baden Henry STEVENS
Service No: 422312
Born: Neutral Bay NSW, 25 June 1917
Enlisted in the RAAF: 26 April 1942
Unit: No. 77 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Elvington
Died: Air Operations: (No. 77 Squadron Halifax aircraft HR946), Germany, 21 January 1944, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Frederick Lewis Stevens and Bertha Elvira Stevens; husband of Alice Irene Stevens, of Abbotsford, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Sydney NSW
Remembered: Panel 261, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 130, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Drummoyne War Memorial, Drummoyne NSW
At 1637 hours on the 20 January 1944 Halifax HR 946 took off from Elvington to bomb Berlin. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it did not return to base. The aircraft was lost with seven crew members killed and one taken prisoner. Following post war searches and enquiries it was recorded that the seven missing crew members had no known graves.
The crew members of HR946 were:
Sergeant Leo Ashton (1459213) (RAFVR) (Second Pilot)
Sergeant J L Duffy DFM (1431692) (RAFVR) (Navigator) PoW
Sergeant Kenneth Emeny (1438270) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Herbert Peter Hopkins (1337740) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Thomas King DFM (1148328) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator)
Flight Sergeant Baden Henry Stevens (422312) (Rear Gunner)
Flight Lieutenant Victor Henry Surplice DFC (60792) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant Arthur Alec Timson (1620951) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Duffy later stated that the Germans had told him that all the remaining members of the crew had lost their lives.
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, 166/38/399
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line