LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Alfred Walter TEERMAN
Service No: 414436
Born: Brisbane QLD, 27 October 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 14 September 1941
Unit: No. 460 Squadron, RAF Station Binbrook, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 460 Squadron Lancaster aircraft W4939), Germany, 22 June 1943, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Rheinberg War Cemetery, Kamp Lintfort, Nordrhein-Westfal, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Walter Gilbert and Rose Agnes Teerman, of Windsor, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Brisbane QLD
Remembered: Panel 108, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Date: 21-22 June 1943
Target: Krefeld
Total Force: Dispatched – 705, Attacking – 661
RAAF Force: No. 460 Dispatched – 20, Attacking – 18; No. 466 Dispatched – 13, Attacking – 12; No. 467 Dispatched – 9, Attacking – 9
Tons of Bombs Dropped: 1,956
Total Aircraft Lost: 42
RAAF Aircraft Lost: No. 460 – 1
Krefeld and Remscheid (July 30-31) were laid in ruins when attacked in clear weather, for fires, once they had gained firm hold, raged unchecked through the innumerable workshops and small factories within the residential area of these cities
Extracts from Herington, J. (John) (406545) Air War Against Germany and Italy 1939-1943, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1954 – Page 488
Lancaster W4939 took off from RAF Binbrook at 0009 hours on 22 June 1943 to attack Krefeld, Germany. The bomb load was 1 x 4000 lb (pound) (1,800 kg) and 3 x 500 lb (225 kg) bombs, 48 x 30 lb (14 kg), 600 x 4 lb (2 kg) incendiaries. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. 20 aircraft from the Squadron took part in the raid. Following post war enquiries, it was believed that the aircraft was shot down at 0240 hours on 22 June near Monchengladbach. Six crew members had been killed and one was a prisoner of War.
The crew members of W4939 were:
Sergeant John Edwin O’Neill Cassell (1312636) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator)
Sergeant John Hetherington (1683293) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Arthur Leslie Thomas Hosking (865141) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Bernard Desmond O’Neill (659011) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Alfred Walter Teerman (414436) (Pilot)
Sergeant H Thompson (1230178) (RAFVR) (Bomb Aimer) PoW
Pilot Officer Hugh Jenkin Trafford (144884) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Thompson later made a statement in which he said “I can tell you very little. I was captured 18 hours after coming down and shown our aircraft close by. Three bodies were in the aircraft but I was unable to identify them. He only saw three. I was told later that the other three were killed and he was the only survivor.”
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, 166/39/88
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line
Bibliography:
Firkins, P. C. (Peter Charles) (441386) Strike and Return, Westward Ho Publishing City Beach WA, 1985