LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer John Stennett WALKER
Service No: 430231
Born: Birmingham, England, 19 April 1924
Enlisted in the RAAF: 1 January 1943 (at Melbourne VIC)
Unit: No. 170 Squadron (RAF), RAF Hemswell, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 170 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ME388), Germany, 7 March 1945, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Kleve, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Arthur and Bessie Mildred Walker
Roll of Honour: Melbourne VIC
Remembered: Panel 131, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Lancaster ME388 took off from RAF Hemswell at 1704 hours on the night of 7/8th March 1945, detailed to bomb Dessau, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. Post war it was discovered that all the crew members had lost their lives.
The crew members of ME 388 were:
Flight Sergeant William Desmond Callaghan (433892) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Wilfred Henry Charles Fuller (1324463) (RAFVR) (Second Pilot)
Flight Sergeant John Mahoney (1800604) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant David Charles Palmer (437202) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flying Officer Kenneth George Powell (176193) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air)
Flight Sergeant Leslie Thomas (1652637) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Flying Officer John Stennett Walker (430231) (Pilot)
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, 166/43/1203