LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Ernest Hugo TRAEGER
Service No: 417604
Born: Tanunda SA, 30 July 1911
Enlisted in the RAAF: 9 June 9142
Unit: No. 101 Squadron (RAF), RAF Ludford Magna, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations (No. 101 Squadron Lancaster aircraft DV290), UK, 31 March 1944, Aged 32 Years
Buried: Oxford (Botley) Cemetery, Oxfordshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of August Henry and Anna Pauline Traeger; husband of Ivy Florence Traeger, of Murray Bridge, South Australia.
Roll of Honour: Murray Bridge SA
Remembered: Panel 131, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
Lancaster DV290 took off from RAF Ludford Magna at 2205 hours on the night of 30 March 1944, detailed to carry out specialist ABC duties in support of an attack on Nuremburg, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. Seven aircraft from the Squadron were lost on this mission. The aircraft crashed at 0503 hours on 31 March near RAF Welford, Newbury, Berkshire, which at the time was being used by Dakotas of 435th Troop Carrier Group, USAAF, and all the crew members were killed.
The crew members of DV290 were:
Sergeant Donald Addy (1684394) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Dennis Roland Billson (1818136) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant Richard Alfred James Collier (1894963) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Irvin Robert McNay (R/167091) (RCAF) (Air Bomber)
Warrant Officer II Alan Norman Rice (R/156762) (RCAF) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Edwin Robert Thomas (527414) (RAF) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Ernest Hugo Traeger (417604) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Allen Howard Wilson (421550) (Wireless Air Gunner) (Special Equipment Operator)
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, 166/40/163