CREW MEMBER PROFILE |
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Surname: |
WESTERN |
First Name/s: |
Malcolm George |
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Service No/s: |
417917 |
Service: |
RAAF |
Branch: |
Air Gunner |
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Awards: |
39-45 Star, Air Crew Europe Star, Defence Medal, War Medal |
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SERVICE RECORDS |
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Date |
Event |
Aircraft Flown |
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18 Dec 1941 |
Applied for Air Crew, 5 Receiving Centre, Adelaide, SA |
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06 Jan 1942 |
Oath taken |
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18 Jul 1942 |
No.4 Initial Training Course, Victor Harbour, SA; 30 (G) Course. |
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12 Sep 1942 |
Promoted LAC |
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17 Sep 1942 |
No.1 Wireless & Air Gunners' School, Ballarat, VIC |
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18 Mar 1943 |
No.3 Bombing & Gunnery School, West Sale, VIC; 30 (G) Course. |
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02 Apr 1943 |
Awarded Air Gunner Badge & promoted Sgt (Temporary) |
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26 Apr 1943 |
No. 2 Embarkation Depot, Bradfield Park, NSW |
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05 May 1943 |
Embarked Brisbane |
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07 Jul 1943 |
No. 11 (RAAF) Personnel Despatch & Receiving Centre, Brighton |
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10 Aug 1943 |
No. 27 Operational Training Unit, Lichfield |
Wellington |
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18 Sep 1943 |
No. 1656 Heavy Conversion Unit, Lindholme |
Halifax, Lancaster? |
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01 Oct 1943 |
Promoted Flt Sgt |
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07 Oct 1943 |
7 - 17 Oct 43 No. 1481 Bomber (Gunnery) Flight, Newmarket, Suffolk (attached) |
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30 Oct 1943 |
30 Oct - 05 Dec 43 - Hospitalised in Station Sick Quarters |
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05 Dec 1943 |
Joined No. 576 Squadron at Elsham Wolds, Linconshire |
Lancaster |
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16 Dec 1943 |
Lost in DV342 UL-G2 (Berlin) |
Lancaster |
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576 Squadron FLYING RECORDS |
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Date |
Aircraft |
Code |
Flight Details |
T/O |
Land |
Flt Time |
Crew |
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16 Dec 1943 |
DV342 |
UL-G2 |
BERLIN |
1630 |
nk |
nk |
P1 Fg Off R.S. McAra |
NOTES: |
Failed to return. All crew killed. Shot down either by Hptm. Walter Borgers of Stab III./NJG5 (Aircrew Remembered), or by Fwbl. Herbert Herre of 3./JG 302 in a Bf109G (AviationSafety.net & Nachtjagd Combat Archive 1943) (tbc) at 2008 hrs at 10,000 ft. Seen to burst into flames and explode over Lichtenberg, 10 km ENE Berlin. Pieces of the aircraft fell over a wide area; one of the engines fell in Rittergutstraße, where two of the crew (Chapman & Russell) were found; another engine fell in Verbindungsweg. A local policeman remembered that they were dressed in blue and each wore a white woollen sweater and escape boots. Both men wore parachute harnesses but there was no sign of the parachutes. The two bodies were taken to a central mortuary in Berlin and later buried in Doberlitz-Elsgrund German Military Cemetery, later interred at the Berlin 1939-45 War Cemetery. No trace of the other crewmen was found. |
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PERSONAL INFORMATION |
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Personal Records Restricted - not available to the public |
PHOTOS & DOCUMENTS |
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Personal Documents Restricted - not available to the public |