LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Walter Robert TINMAN
Service No: 422012
Born: Mudgee NSW, 6 November 1915
Enlisted in the RAAF: 24 April 1942
Unit: No. 156 Squadron (RAF), RAF Warboys, Cambridgeshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 156 Squadron Lancaster aircraft JB179), Germany, 2 December 1943, Aged 28 Years
Buried: Berlin (1939-1945) War Cemetery, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Leslie Mark and Ivy Vera Tinman; husband of Mary Magdalene Tinman, of Wentworthville, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Wentworthville NSW
Remembered: Panel 131, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Wentworthville Park Memorial, Wentworthville NSW
Lancaster JB179 of No. 156 Squadron took off from RAF Station Warboys at 1710 hours on 2 December 1943 to bomb Berlin. Nothing further was heard from the aircraft which did not return to base. In a 1949 report by a Missing Research & Enquiry team it was stated that the aircraft crashed 3 kms north east of Colbitz between 2000 and 2100 hours on 2 December 1943. German documents revealed that the aircraft was shot down.
The crew members of JB179 were:
Sergeant Bernard Carroll (1484120) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant William Robertson Clarke (R/147572) (RCAF) (Bomb Aimer)
Pilot Officer Leslie Joseph Johnson (15467) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant James Gordon Redfern (1035035) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant James Richmond (1059399) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator)
Flight Sergeant Walter Robert Tinman (422012) (Rear Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Kenneth Wood (2216037) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper 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, 166/39/182
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line