LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Reginald Kenneth WATSON
Service No: 426245
Born: Tambo QLD, 14 December 1917
Enlisted in the RAAF: 23 May 1942
Unit: No. 15 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Mildenhall
Died: Air Operations: (No. 15 Squadron Lancaster aircraft LL752), Belgium, 12 May 1944, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Leuven Communal Cemetery, Leuven, Vlaams-Brabant, Belgium
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William John and Ada Emily Watson; husband of Constance de Mestre Watson, of Bowen Hills, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Brisbane QLD
Remembered: Panel 132, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2336 hours on the night of 11May 1944 Lancaster LL752 took off from Mildenhall to bomb Louvain, Belgium. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. It was later reported that the aircraft had been shot down and crashed at Louvain and all the crew members had been killed.
The crew members of LL752 were:
Flight Lieutenant Alan Amies (169719) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant Herbert Samuel Baker (1602984) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air)
Sergeant John Desmond Cairns (1894992) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Warrant Officer Gavin John Cronk (R/152808) (RCAF) (Bomb Aimer)
Flight Sergeant Ernest Thomas Jones (570004) (RAF) (Second Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Reginald Kenneth Watson (426245) (Navigator)
Sergeant John Whittaker (R/250965) (RCAF) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant Donald Jack Wilson (1768206) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
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, 166/43/667