LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant John Selwyn WILKINS
Service No: 413810
Born: Chatswood NSW, 15 January 1916
Enlisted in the RAAF: 13 September 1941
Unit: No. 78 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Breighton
Died: Air Operations: (No. 78 Squadron Halifax aircraft LW230), Germany, 27 September 1943, Aged 27 Years
Buried: Hanover War Cemetery, Hanover, Niedersachsen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John Percy and Ellen Mary Wilkins; husband of Beatrice Emily Wilkins, of Gordon, New South Wales. Australia
Roll of Honour: Sydney NSW
Remembered: Panel 132, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1905 hours on the night of 27 September 1943 Halifax LW230 took off from Breighton detailed to bomb Hanover, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. A later Missing Research and Enquiry team report stated “the aircraft exploded in the air and crashed at Hattendorf, Germany.” All the crew members were killed.
The crew members of LW230 were:
Pilot Officer Arthur Bernard Cocking (149904) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Pilot Officer George Edward Hickling (155088) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant James Norman (1129071) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Lieutenant George Graham Paul (139298) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Ronald Alfred Smith (1810805) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flight Lieutenant William Brian Smith (416177) (RNZAF) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant John Selwyn Wilkins (413810) (Rear Gunner)
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, 166/43/363