LEST WE FORGET

Flying Officer John Reuben VOWLES

Service No: 416810
Born: Kensington SA, 27 August 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 11 September 1941
Unit: No. 44 Squadron (RAF), RAF Dunholme Lodge, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations (No. 44 Squadron Lancaster aircraft LM592), Netherlands, 22 June 1944, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Eindhoven (Woensel) General Cemetery, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Reuben Joseph and Nellie Shacklock Vowles; husband of Gwenneth Louisa Vowles, of Henley Beach, South Australia.
Roll of Honour: Adelaide 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

At 2257 hours on 22 June 1944 Lancaster LM592 took off from RAF Dunholme Lodge to bomb Wesseling, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. It was later established that the aircraft was intercepted by a night fighter over Holland when outbound, and crashed between Riethoven in Noord-Brabant and the nearby town of Valkenswaard. All the crew members were killed.

The crew members of LM592 were:

Pilot Officer Edwin Albert Canty (414898) (Pilot)
Sergeant Ronald Edgar Clay (1852931) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flying Officer Walter Marshall Crook (157897) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Louis Joseph Patrick McCoy (418722) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Eric Norris (1459937) (RAFVR) (Bomb Aimer)
Sergeant Ernest George Scott (1816835) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flying Officer John Reuben Vowles (416810) (Navigator)

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, 166/42/73

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