RICHARDS, HAROLD LESLIE RAYMOND Rank: Flight Sergeant Trade: Pilot Service No: 42457 Date of Death: 18/11/1943 Age: 28 Regiment/Service: Royal New Zealand Air Force 622 (R.A.F.) Sqdn. Grave Reference: Coll. grave 2-4. Cemetery: LACHALADE CHURCHYARD Additional Information: Son of Walter and Beatrice Richards; husband of Gwendoline Veda Richards, of Westport, Nelson, New Zealand.Casualty Details
CONROY, REGINALD MATTHEW Flight Sergeant 426317 18/11/1943 24 Royal Australian Air Force Australian Grave 1. LACHALADE CHURCHYARD MORCOMBE, WILLIAM JAMES Pilot Officer 415264 18/11/1943 20 Royal Australian Air Force Australian Coll. grave 2-4. LACHALADE CHURCHYARD OUGH, ALAN ANDREW Sergeant 1812760 18/11/1943 19 Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve United Kingdom Coll. grave 2-4. LACHALADE CHURCHYARD RICHARDS, HAROLD LESLIE RAYMOND Flight Sergeant 42457 18/11/1943 28 Royal New Zealand Air Force New Zealand Coll. grave 2-4. LACHALADE CHURCHYARD SLY, ARTHUR ERNEST Sergeant 1632077 18/11/1943 Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve United Kingdom Coll. grave 2-4. LACHALADE CHURCHYARD SMITH, DONALD SINCLAIR Flight Sergeant 658902 18/11/1943 28 Royal Air Force United Kingdom Coll. grave 2-4. LACHALADE CHURCHYARD THOMAS, STANLEY ALAN Sergeant 915352 18/11/1943 23 Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve United Kingdom Coll. grave 2-4. LACHALADE CHURCHYAR
RAAF FATALITIES IN SECOND WORLD WAR AMONG RAAF PERSONNEL SERVING ON ATTACHMENT IN ROYAL AIR FORCE SQUADRONS AND SUPPORT UNITS 426317 Flight Sergeant CONROY, Reginald Matthew Crew: Source: AWM 237 (65) NAA : A705, 166/28/190 digitised Commonwealth War Graves records, W R Chorley : RAF Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War, Page 386, Volume 1943. Aircraft Type: Stirling Serial number: EF 128 Radio call sign: GI – D Unit: 622 Sqn RAF Summary: On the night of 18/19th November 1943, Stirling EF128 took off from RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk, at 1710 hours, detailed to bomb Mannheim, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft, and it failed to return to base. Crew: RAAF 415264 PO, William James Morcombe Captain (Pilot) (KILLED) RNZAF 42457 Flt Sgt Harold Leslie Raymond Richards, (2nd Pilot) (KILLED) RAF 1632077 Sgt Arthur Ernest Sly, (Flight Engineer) (KILLED) RAF 658902 Flt Sgt Donald Sinclair Smith, (Navigator) (KILLED) RAF ?????? Sgt Robert Harper, (Air Bomber) (POW) RAF 915392 Sgt Stanley Alan Thomas, (Wireless Air Gunner) (KILLED) RAAF 426317 Flt Sgt Reginald Matthew Conroy, (Air Gunner) (KILLED) RAF 1812760 Sgt Alan Andrew Ough, (Air Gunner) (KILLED) (PO Morecombe's brother, RAAF 406572 Flight Lieutenant Frank Keith Morcombe (DFC) also died in service) The aircraft was shot down by a German night fighter near Lachalade, at approx 8pm by Captain Helmut Bergmann of the Luftwaffe who took off from Saint-Dizier. Lachalade is 18.5 miles west of Verdun, France. Seven of the crew were killed in the crash, and Sgt Harper was a POW. Those killed are buried in the Lachalade Churchyard France. Lachalade is a village and commune, 44kms NNW of Bar-le-Duc and 30kms west of Verdun. "These seven are the only WW2 airmen buried in the Churchyard. Sgt Harper was rescued by the Resistance however he was later captured and sent to a POW Camp. Firstly Buchenwald, then Sagan, then Luckenwald where he was released by the Russians in 1945. Sgt Harper died in 1977. The inscription on the reverse of the Memorial reads: "The Stirling EF 128 took off from Great Britain for a bombing mission in Germany. He is shot down in these woods by the Captain Helmut Bergmann of the Luftwafe who took off from Saint-Dizier. The seven Airmen are buried in Lachalade Cemetery. The survivor is rescued by the "Resistance". He will nevertheless be captured and sent in a camp of Prisoners of war until the end of the war." (Credit Tom Kaufman) RAAF 415264 PO, William James Morcombe Captain (Pilot) (KILLED) Aged20, Son of Philip Thomas Morcombe and Stella Alison Morcombe, of Armadale, Western Australia. RNZAF 42457 Flt Sgt Harold Leslie Raymond Richards, (2nd Pilot) (KILLED) Aged 28, Son of Walter and Beatrice Richards; husband of Gwendoline Veda Richards, of Westport, Nelson, New Zealand. RAF 1632077 Sgt Arthur Ernest Sly, (Flight Engineer) (KILLED) NO AGE OR NOK LISTED RAF 658902 Flt Sgt Donald Sinclair Smith, (Navigator) (KILLED) Aged 28, Son of John and Martha Smith, of Blackpool, Lancashire. RAF 915392 Sgt Stanley Alan Thomas, (Wireless Air Gunner) (KILLED) Aged 23, Son of Arthur and Ivy Thomas; husband of Elsie Thomas. RAAF 426317 Flt Sgt Reginald Matthew Conroy, (Air Gunner) (KILLED) Aged 24, Son of Matthew and Ivy Mary Conroy, of Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. RAF 1812760 Sgt Alan Andrew Ough, (Air Gunner) (KILLED) Aged 19, Son of Benidict George and Lilian Miriam Ough, of Fulham, London. Their memorial is in woods near Lachalade. Sgt A. A. Ough - Sgt A. E. Sly - Sgt Robert Harper - P/O W. J. Morcombe - F/Sgt D. S. Smith - F/Sgt R. M. Conroy - Sgt S. A. Thomas That Day, a 8th crew member was in the plane, Sgt Robert Harper who survived the crash, was prisoner of war and finished the war in a POW camp in Buchenwald, then Sagan, then Luckenwald where he was delivered by the Russian troops. The Monument to the Crew erected in Honour of the Crew. On the reverse is a mention: " The Stirling EF 128 took off from Great Britain for a bombing mission in Germany. He is shot down in these woods by the Captain Helmut Bergmann of the Luftwafe who took off from Saint-Dizier. The seven Airmen are buried in Lachalade Cemetery. The survivor is rescued by the "Resistance". He will nevertheless be captured and sent in a camp of Prisoners of war untill the end of the war." credit Tom Kaufman. PO Morcombe left and F/S Conroy.
Posted in the wrong thread. Re-posted in my "In Memoriam" thread. In Memoriam - Those Air Force Pilots/Crews who died on this day in WW2.
Hi, I've just joined the forum and have come across this post, as the 622 Squadron historian and member of the Mildenhall Register this post is very interesting to me. I am currently volunteering for the International Bomber Command Centre (IBCC) by writing all the biographies for the airmen who lost their lives serving on 622. I have a trip to France planned in October were I will be visiting all the graves and crash sites of 622 airman that rest in France. I would like to ask if I could use the crew photos within the biographies, full credit of course to the original source!
Hi ... I visit a cwgc site near to where I live each November to. 622 crew. Shot down 26/08/1944 just south of Luxembourg. Graveyard is Volmerange Les Mines .... will you be visiting that one ?
where there is a link credit the detail within the link if no link credit the forum member regards Clive