LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant John Francis WALSH
Service No: 404701
Born: Gympie QLD, Date Unavailable
Enlisted in the RAAF: 8 November 1940
Unit: No. 460 Squadron, RAF Breighton, Yorkshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 460 Squadron Wellington aircraft Z1311), Belgium, 1 June 1942, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Charleroi Communal Cemetery, Charleroi, Hainaut, Belgium
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Edward Patrick and Mary Beatrice Walsh, of Gympie, Queensland, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Gympie QLD
Remembered: Panel 108, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Date: 1-2 June 1942
Target: Essen
Total Force: Dispatched – 957, Attacking – 726
RAAF Force: No. 460 Dispatched – 19, Attacking – 19
Tons of Bombs Dropped: 1,235
Total Aircraft Lost: 32
RAAF Aircraft Lost: No. 460 – 2
Essen was not again attacked until the mass raid of 1st-2nd June, two nights after the resounding success by a similar force against Cologne. The natural defences, haze and low cloud again confused the attackers, and although eighteen aircraft dropped illuminating flares with the aid of Gee, and were closely followed by an incendiary force of Stirlings and Halifaxes, no real concentration of bombing was achieved. Nineteen Wellingtons of No. 460 found nothing to bomb except widely-scattered fires, and again the main weight fell away from Krupps, and Oberhausen, Mulheim, Hamborn and Duisburg suffered more damage than Essen. The raid, while failing in its main object, again demonstrated that defences could be saturated by large numbers of aircraft, and although Australians reported several incidents, the number of aircraft lost, and especially the proportion of, aircraft damaged by anti-aircraft fire, was noticeably low.
Extracts from Herington, J. (John) (406545) Air War Against Germany and Italy 1939-1943, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1954 – Pages 323-5
Sgt Walsh and crew were detailed to operate in Wellington Z 1311 against Essen, Germany on the night of 1/2nd June 1942. The aircraft took off from RAF Breighton at 2325 hours and since then nothing was heard of either the aircraft or crew. Bomb load of 8 x 90 x 4 lb (pound) (2 kg) incendiaries. Z1311 was one of nineteen aircraft of the squadron that took part in the second Thousand Plan raid. Post war it was established that the aircraft crashed near the village of Esinnes Au Mont, Belgium.
The crew members of Z1311 were:
Sergeant Maurice Michael Fitzgerald (403576) (Observer)
Sergeant Thomas Lee (1310845) (RAFVR) (Bombardier)
Sergeant John Bruce Moore (990568) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Sergeant Wallace Hugh Sams (402612) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant William Marcel Spongberg (14243) (Second Pilot)
Flight Sergeant John Francis Walsh (404701) (Pilot)
No. 460 Squadron lost Wellington Z1344 (Flight Sergeant Dudley Raymond Beinke (406136) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)) on 1-2 June 1942.
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, 163/176/283
Bibliography:
Firkins, P. C. (Peter Charles) (441386) Strike and Return, Westward Ho Publishing City Beach WA, 1985