LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Alan William WILSON
Service No: 410510
Born: St Arnaud VIC, 6 January 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 16 January 1942
Unit: No. 630 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station East Kirkby
Died: Air Operations: Operation Overlord (No. 630 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ND685), France, 7 June 1944, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Bayeux War Cemetery, Calvados, France
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Alfred and Myrtle Wilson, of Murrumbeena, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: St Arnaud VIC
Remembered: Panel 132, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On the night of 6 June 1944, Lancaster ND6285 took off to bomb Caen, Normandy. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed at Franquerville and four of the crew members were killed and three were taken prisoner.
The crew members of ND685 were:
Sergeant George Bellman (2216234) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer) PoW
Sergeant James Hanna (1796357) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Alistair Millar Henderson (1825899) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flying Officer John Robert Gordon Morschel (422627) (Navigator) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 26 October 1945
Flight Sergeant Francis James Roche (423897) (Air Bomber) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 12 December 1945
Pilot Officer Reginald Charles H Wakeley (177735) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Alan William Wilson (410510) (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, 166/43/700