LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant John McDowell SULLIVAN
Service No: 404909
Born: Tweed Heads NSW, 4 January 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 6 December 1940 (at Brisbane QLD)
Unit: No. 467 Squadron, RAF Bottesford, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 467 Squadron Lancaster aircraft JA675), France, 15 August 1943, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Dreux Communal Cemetery, Eure-et-Loir, France
CWGC Additional Information: Son of James and Mary McWhirter Sullivan, of Coolangatta, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Coolangatta QLD
Remembered: Panel 111, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Date: 15-16 August 1943
Target: Milan
Total Force: Dispatched – 199, Attacking – 185
RAAF Force: No. 460 Dispatched – 12, Attacking – 11; No. 467 Dispatched – 10, Attacking – 10
Tons of Bombs Dropped: 567
Total Aircraft Lost: 7
RAAF Aircraft Lost: No. 467 – 2
On 15th-16th August the bombers returned for the third time in four nights and in bright moonlight another successful attack was made. Ground defences were still inadequate but fighters were very active. No. 467 suffered a relatively heavy loss when the commanding officer, Wing Commander Gomm, and a deputy flight commander, Flight Lieutenant Sullivan, failed to return. Gomm had nursed the squadron through its formative stages and early career until it had reached a very high pitch of efficiency. Although not an Australian, his breadth of understanding and effective leadership had evoked the best qualities in his crews. He needed only one more sortie to
complete his second tour of operations.
Extracts from Herington, J. (John) (406545) Air War Against Germany and Italy 1939-1943, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1954 – Pages 589, 591
Lancaster JA675 took off from RAF Bottesford at 2038 hours on the night of 15/16th August 1943 to bomb Milan, Italy. The bomb load 4 x 1000 lb (pound) (450 kg) bombs, 32 x 30 lb (14 kg), 450 x 4 lb (2 kg) incendiaries. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. Post war it was established that the aircraft was shot down by a night fighter in the vicinity of Chartres (Eure-et-Loir).France. Two of the crew became Prisoners of War and the other five crew members were killed.
The crew members of JA675 were:
Flying Officer Terence Herbert Francis Entract (131770) (RAFVR) (Bomb Aimer) PoW
Warrant Officer II Edward Alexander McDougall Grange (J/18431) (RCAF) (Navigator)
Sergeant Kenneth Harvey (1211431) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner) PoW
Sergeant John Alfred Ernest Newland (959476) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Arthur Patrick Power (1396149) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Lloyd Spurr (985455) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flight Lieutenant John McDowell Sullivan (404909) (Pilot)
No. 467 Squadron lost Lancaster ED998 (Warrant Officer Lancelot Loxton McKenny (416270) (Rear Gunner)) on 15 August 1943.
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 A9300, SULLIVAN J M