LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Desmonde George TOINTON
Service No: 418890
Born: Moonee Ponds VIC, 11 January 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 19 June 1942
Unit: No. 463 Squadron, RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 463 Squadron Lancaster aircraft LM375), Germany, 6 October 1944, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Sage War Cemetery, Oldenburg, Niedersachsen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of George Henry and Florence Tointon, of Essendon, Victoria, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Melbourne VIC
Remembered: Panel 109, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Date: 6-7 October 1944
Target: Bremen
Total Force: Dispatched – 263, Attacking – 256
RAAF Force: No. 463 Dispatched – 18, Attacking – 18; No. 467 Dispatched – 17, Attacking -17
Tons of Bombs Dropped: 999
Total Aircraft Lost: 15
RAAF Aircraft Lost: No. 460 – 1
Bremen, already heavily attacked in August, was subjected to a fierce incendiary raid (147 tons high explosives, 852 tons incendiaries) on 6th-7th October when No . 5 Group gutted large sections of the Neustadt district and caused further damage in the already ruined Altstadt section. There was some industrial damage but the main result of this raid was to raise the estimated total of housing accommodation destroyed in Bremen to 70 per cent.
Extracts from Herington, J. (John) (406545) Air War Over Europe 1944-1945, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1963 – Page 309
Lancaster LM375 took off from RAF Waddington at 1740 hours on the night of 6/7th October 1944 to bomb Bremen, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. Eighteen aircraft from the Squadron took part in the raid and one of these LM 375 failed to return. Post war it was established that the aircraft crashed at 2100 hours at Nesseburg (Aussendeich), north west of Papenburg.
The crew members of LM375 were:
Flight Sergeant Raymond Cecil Broad (427795) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Donald Edgar Brown (437332) (Navigator) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 23 November 1945
Flight Sergeant Andrew Giloran (26853) (Bomb Aimer) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 23 November 1945
Flight Sergeant John Stuart MacPherson (439480) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant J P W McLellan (1457829) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer) Evaded Capture
Flying Officer Desmonde George Tointon (418890) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Thomas Patrick Whiteley (437918) (Rear Gunner) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 6 December 1945
In a later report Flight Sergeant Brown stated “A night fighter attacked the aircraft setting it on fire. The Captain asked the Wireless Operator to inspect the fire and after he reported the Captain ordered bale out. The intercom was very faint and I did not hear everything that was said or whether order acknowledged. Height 19,000 feet. Aircraft under control but burning fiercely. Aircraft crashed north of Aschendorf and about 2 minutes flying time from turning point on run EMS. Felt that Captain was standing behind me when I baled out. Saw no chutes. Later met Bomb Aimer and Rear Gunner. Germans said the Captain was dead. Captured 7/10. Released by Russians 20/4/45.”
Flight Sergeant Whiteley stated “Attacked by ME 410 after bombing Bremen. Hit by his first and only burst. On fire from Rear to Mid Upper. Intercom failed. Got short burst in on fighter. Impossible to put fire out. Heat drove me out of Rear turret . I baled out at 18,000 feet. Met Navigator and Bomb Aimer in camp. Heard the Engineer had evaded capture and was in hiding in Holland. Germans said the Mid Upper was killed.”
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, 166/40/269