Operation: Munich

Date: 07/08th January 1945 (Sunday/Monday)

Unit: 467 Squadron

Type: Lancaster III

Serial: JB286

Code: PO-L

Base: RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire

Location: Eye, Suffolk, England.

Pilot: F/O. William Andrew McNamee 426422 RAAF Age 21. Missing - classified as killed

Fl/Eng: Sgt. Henry William Kirsh 1812555 RAFVR Age 20. Missing - classified as killed

Nav: Fl/Sgt. 'Herbie' Herbert John Williams 427218 RAAF Age 28. Missing - classified as killed

Air/Bmr: Fl/Sgt. John Danckert Gloury 430372 RAAF Age 20. Missing - classified as killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. Stephanos Servos 434029 RAAF Age 23. Missing - classified as killed

Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. Laurance Julius Saulwick 431186 RAAF Age 19. Missing - classified as killed

Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. Maxwell Bright Bruckner 431195 RAAF Age 20. Missing - classified as killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Leaving RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire at 17:07 hrs to bomb München, 645 Lancasters taking part on this operation, together with 9 Mosquitoes.

Some 503 people being killed on the ground, 984 injured and a further 70,000 being made homeless.

Lancaster JB286 had been flying for some 10 hours when it is thought that the crew abandoned the aircraft over the North Sea. The aircraft continued before crashing and exploding near Ely, Suffolk. Sadly, the bodies of the crew were never recovered.

Note:- does anyone recognise others in this photograph, perhaps a page of remembrance could be added to them if you have this additional information?

Niel Grady, the son of Sgt. Grady (back row, 3rd from the right), believed that his father flew on this Lancaster on the sortie before it and the crew were lost.

Left: Fl/Sgt. Stephanos Servos, later P/O. (courtesy Valerie Davies Arends)

F/O. William Andrew McNamee. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 283. Further information: Son of William James George and Elizabeth McNamee, of Wynnum, Queensland, Australia. Born 9th December 1923 at Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. Enlisted at Brisbane on the 20th June 1942.

Sgt. Henry William Kirsh. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 275. Son of Frederick and Elsie Kirsh, of Poplar, London, England.

Fl/Sgt. Herbert John Williams. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 284. Further information: Son of James Williams, and of Alice Kate Williams (née Avery), of Mullewa, Western Australia. Brother to Elizabeth, Robert (Jim), Harry and Rosie. Herbie was born in Goomalling in August 1916 and chose to enlist. Prior to enlisting he was training to be a Pharmacist.

Fl/Sgt. John Danckert Gloury. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 284. Further information: Son of Commander John Arthur Gloury, R.A.N., and Kathleen Agnes Gloury, of Frankston, Victoria, Australia. Born 29th November 1924 at Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Enlisted at Melbourne on the 29th January 1943.

Fl/Sgt. Stephanos Servos. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 284. Born on the 04th May 1921 at Townsville, Queensland, the son of Michael Servos and Virginia Servos, of Wowan, Queensland, Australia.

Fl/Sgt. Laurance Julius Saulwick. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 284.Further information: Born on the 23rd March 1925 in New York, USA, the son of Julius Saulwick, and of Ruth Saulwick, of 5 Moorakyne Avenue, Malvern, Victoria, Australia.

Fl/Sgt. Maxwell Bright Bruckner. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 284. Born on the 19th November 1924 at Harrietville, the son of Samuel James Bruckner and Alberta Helena Bruckner, of Bright, Victoria, Australia.

Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this crew with thanks to Linda Ibrom, Valerie Davies Arends, Kerry Bradley and Rosalie Taylor (nieces of Fl/Sgt. Williams), Malcolm Barrass at Raf Web, Valerie Davies Arends, Bill Chorley - 'Bomber Command Losses Vols. 1-9, plus ongoing revisions', Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt - 'Bomber Command War Diaries', Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Aircrew Remembered archives.