LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Geoffrey Lovell STEVENS
Service No: 400160
Born: Canterbury VIC, 29 January 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 23 June 1940
Unit: No. 460 Squadron, RAF Station Breighton, Yorkshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 460 Squadron Wellington aircraft Z1486), Germany, 20 June 1942, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Sage War Cemetery, Oldenburg, Niedersachsen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Lovell Edward and Florence Olive Stevens, of East Brighton, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Malvern VIC
Remembered: Panel 108, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Date: 19-20 June 1942
Target: Emden
Total Force: Dispatched – 195, Attacking – 130
RAAF Force: No. 460 Dispatched – 12, Attacking – 12
Tons of Bombs Dropped: 251
Total Aircraft Lost: 9
RAAF Aircraft Lost: No. 460 – 1
Cloud, however, almost completely spoilt the second raid, and most of the Australian crews dropped their bombs over the position of flares which they presumed had been dropped by aircraft equipped with Gee, which they themselves lacked. Only a few dockside buildings were destroyed in this raid.
Extracts from Herington, J. (John) (406545) Air War Against Germany and Italy 1939-1943, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1954 – Page 317
Wellington Z1486 took off at 2339 hours on 19 June 1942 from RAF Breighton, detailed to attack Emden, Germany. The Bomb load 90 x 4 lb (2 kg) and 8 x 30 lb (14 kg) incendiaries. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. It was later established that the aircraft crashed on a sandbank near Rysum, which is located 7 miles west of Emden, Germany and all the crew members were killed.
The crew members of Z1486 were:
Sergeant Maurice Ermini Anivitti (401408) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Lionel Heyman James (403109) (Observer)
Warrant Officer David Gordon Kitchen (400805) (Pilot)
Sergeant Geoffrey Lovell Stevens (400160) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Sergeant Denis John Whelan Watson (1281960) (RAFVR) (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, 163/163/399
Bibliography:
Firkins, P. C. (Peter Charles) (441386) Strike and Return, Westward Ho Publishing City Beach WA, 1985