LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Jack Stratford WARD
Service No: 402989
Born: Lismore NSW, 6 September 1913
Enlisted in the RAAF: 11 November 1940
Unit: No. 12 Squadron (RAF), RAF Wickenby, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 12 Squadron Wellington aircraft BJ776), North West Europe, 26 September 1942, Aged 29 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Stratford and Alma Ward, of Lismore, New South Wales, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Lismore NSW
Remembered: Panel 111, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 132, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Lismore Cenotaph, Lismore NSW
Wellington BJ776 of 12 Squadron took off from RAF Station Wickenby at 7.30 pm on 26 September 1942 to carry out a sea mining mission in German territorial waters in the Kiel Bay area. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. Following post war enquiries and investigations, it was recorded in 1948 that the missing crew had lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of BJ776 were:
Flight Sergeant Jack Bruce Harden (411320) (Air Bomber)
Flight Sergeant Phillip Rossiter Mitchell (406812) (Rear Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Alwyn Charles Rich (403375) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Harold Classen Thompson (401864) (Navigator)
Flying Officer Jack Stratford Ward (402989) (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, 163/63/180
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line