LEST WE FORGET

Flight Sergeant Leonard William ZINGELMANN

Service No: 426944
Born: Dugandan QLD, 27 December 1911
Enlisted in the RAAF: 15 August 1942
Unit: No. 103 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Elsham Wolds
Died: Air Operations: (No. 103 Squadron Lancaster aircraft NE173), France, 7 June 1944, Aged 32 Years
Buried: Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery, Calvados, France
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William Carl and Alice Maud Zingelmann, of Boonah, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Boonah QLD
Remembered: Panel 133, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT

Lancaster NE173 took off from RAF Elsham Wolds at 2140 hours on the night of 6 June 1944 detailed to bomb lines of communications at Vire, France. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. A Missing Research and Enquiry team reported “the aircraft was shot down and crashed in the village of Maisonseule, near Coulonces, Western France, and all the crew members were killed.”

The crew members of NE173 were:

Flight Sergeant Roger Hughes Cooper (1474128) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air)
Flight Sergeant Joseph Pearson Duns (R/186214) (RCAF) (Rear Gunner)
Pilot Officer John Douglas Gallagher (J/88398) (RCAF) (Air Bomber)
Pilot Officer Derrick Reginald Hollingsworth (177033) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant John Edward Jennings (1590722) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Lieutenant Wilfred Howard Way (J/10777) (RCAF) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Leonard William Zingelmann (426944) (Mid Upper 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, 166/45/53

Bibliography:

Charlwood, D.E.C. (Donald Ernest Cameron) (408794) No Moon Tonight (Angus and Robertson 1956), Penguin Ringwood VIC, 3134, 1991

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