LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Cecil John WATSON
Service No: 425082
Born: Warwick QLD, 23 November 1914
Enlisted in the RAAF: 7 December 1941
Unit: No. 15 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Mildenhall
Died: Air Operations: (No. 15 Squadron Lancaster aircraft LM534), France, 8 June 1944, Aged 29 Years
Buried: Viroflay New Communal Cemetery, Yvelines, France
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John Edward and Jane Elizabeth Watson, husband of Lilian Watson, of Warwick, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Warwick QLD
Remembered: Panel 132, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 0049 hours on 8 June 1944 Lancaster LM534 took off from Mildenhall to bomb rail facilities at Massy-Palaiseau, France. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. Post war a Missing Research and Enquiry Unit reported “the aircraft crashed at Bonnelles,
France at 0230 hours on 8 June 1944, and the aircraft exploded when it hit the ground.” All the crew members were killed.
The crew members of LM534 were:
Flight Sergeant James Edward Armstrong (423610) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Ronald Douglas Hales (1895806) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant George William Haswell (575792) (RAF) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Alfred Frederick James Lilley (1892003) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flight Sergeant John James Joseph Turner (410017) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Cecil John Watson (425082) (Bomb Aimer)
Flying Officer Charles David Woodley (C/21286) (RCAF) (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 Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/43/704