Operation: Giessen, Germany

Date: 6th/7th December 1944 (Wednesday/Thursday)

Unit No: 463 Sqn RAAF, 5 Group, Bomber Command

Type: Lancaster III

Serial: PB290

Code: JO:K

Base: RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire

Location: Woods about 3 km (1¾ mls) NE of Giessen

Pilot: Fg Off. Richard Rodney 'Rod' Young 429369 RAAF Age 25. KiA

Flt Eng: Sgt. Phillip John Bentley Gwynne 1872636 RAFVR Age 37. KiA

Nav: Fg Off. Alan Campbell Bond 433194 RAAF Age 34. KiA

Bomb Aimer: Fg Off. Henry Stanley ‘Mack’ MacMeikan 419821 RAAF Age 22. KiA

WOp/Air Gnr: Fg Off. Gwynne Thomas 434484 RAAF Age 20. KiA

Air Gnr (Mid Upp): Flt Sgt. Richard Thurston ‘Dick’ Hawthorn 431448 RAAF Age 19. KiA

Air Gnr (Rear): Flt Sgt. Joslyn Lavarre ‘Len’ Henderson 433549 RAAF Age 20. KiA

Above: Group portrait of the crew of Lancaster III PB290 taken on the 17th November 1944. (courtesy of the Australian War Museum)

Left to right: Fg Off. G. Thomas, Fg Off. 'Rod' Young, Fg Off. A. Bond, Flt Sgt. ‘Dick’ Hawthorn, Sgt. P. Gwynne, Flt Sgt. ‘Len’ Henderson, Fg Off. ‘Mack’ MacMeikan.

REASON FOR LOSS:

On the night of the 6th/7th December 1944 463 Sqn detailed 19 aircraft to join a force of 255 aircraft to bomb the town centre and the marshalling yards at Giessen in Germany. Of the 8 Lancasters that failed to return only PB290 was lost from the squadron

PB290, 227 Sqn PB640 and 227 Sqn NG296 were a possible claims by four German night-fighters:

Fw. Günter Liersch his 3rd Abschuss from 11./NJG6;
Uffz. Ulrich his 2nd Abschuss from 2./NJG11;
Ofw. Schuster his 1st Abschuss from 2./NJG11;
Fw.Günter Lars his 1st Abschuss from 2./NJG11;
Fhj.-Fw. Dieter Erichsen his third Abschuss from11./NJG6.

Currently no attribution for the losses has been published. (Nachtjagd Combat Archive (16 October 1944 - 31 December 1944) Part 5 - Theo Boiten).

An investigation by the Missing, Research and Enquiry Service (MRES) uncovered in captured German documents that the remains of Fg Off. Young, Fg Off. MacMeikan, Flt Sgt Hawthorn and Sgt. Gwynne, had been recovered and buried in the local cemetery in Giessen. The investigation could not determine the location of the crash site and therefore the location of the missing crew members.

As that time the three missing crew members were remembered on The Runnymede Memorial:

Fg Off. Alan Campbell Bond on Panel 257;
Fg Off. Gwynne Thomas on Panel 258;
Flt Sgt. Joslyn Lavarre ‘Len’ Henderson on Panel 260.

In 2004, German historians found part of the Lancaster's wreckage about 3 km (1¾ mls) NE of Giessen, and also the remains of Fg Off. Bond, Fg Off. Thomas and Flt Sgt. Henderson.

Family members of the crew joined representatives from the RAAF and the Australian Embassy in Berlin for a military funeral service for the remaining crewmembers on the 13th September 2005.

Burial details:

Above The Hannover War Cemetery (Courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC)

Fg Off. Richard Rodney 'Rod' Young. Hanover War Cemetery 5.F.17. Grave Inscription: ‘LOVED SON OF MR.& MRS.R.A.YOUNG OF CHARLEVILLE, QUEENSLAND’. Born on the 22nd January 1919 in West Maitland, New South Wales Son of Son of Richard Alexander and Inez Berrie Young of Charleville, Queensland, Australia.

Sgt. Phillip John Bentley Gwynne. Hanover War Cemetery 5.F.15. Born on the 19th June 1907 in Milton, Pembrokeshire, Wales. Son of Pierce (deceased in 1938) and Elizabeth Margaret (née Henton) Gwynne of Llanreath, Pembrokeshire, Wales.

Fg Off. Alan Campbell Bond. Hanover War Cemetery 5.F.9A. Born on the 8th August 1910 in Hawthorn, Victoria. Son of Robert Joseph and Annie Furner Bond. Husband of Eileen Maureen Bond of Hunters Hill, New South Wales, Australia.

Fg Off. Henry Stanley ‘Mack’ MacMeikan. Hanover War Cemetery 5.F.16. Grave Inscription: ‘HONORED AND LOVED’. Born on the 22nd May 1922 in Caulfield, Victoria. Son of Edgar John and Edith Louise MacMeikan, of Caulfield, Victoria, Australia.

Fg Off. Gwynne Thomas. Hanover War Cemetery 5.B.10. Grave Inscription: ‘BELOVED ELDER SON OF GEORGE AND EMMA THOMAS OF GYMPIE QUEENSLAND ALWAYS REMEMBERED’. Born on the 23rd June 1924 in Gympie, Queensland. Son of George and Emma Thomas of Gympie, Queensland, Australia.

Flt Sgt. Richard Thurston ‘Dick’ Hawthorn. Hanover War Cemetery 5.F.18. Grave Inscription: ‘DEAR SON OF HENRY & RUBY OF RED CLIFFS VICTORIA LOVED BROTHER OF GWYN REMEMBERED ALWAYS’. Born on the 19th May 1925 in Mildura, Victoria. Son of Henry Rupert and Ruby Amelia Hawthorn of Red Cliffes, Victoria, Australia.

Flt Sgt. Joslyn Lavarre ‘Len’ Henderson. Hanover War Cemetery 5.F.9B. Grave Inscription: ‘THY KINGDOM COME THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN LOVING MEMORIES BROTHER ROD FIANCE JOAN’. Born on the 31st May 1924 in Manly, New South Wales. Son of George Lavarre and Katie Hunaeus Henderson of Lidcombe, New South Wales, Australia.

Researched by Ralph Snape for Aircrew Remembered and dedicated to the relatives of this crew (Oct 2024).

Other sources listed below:

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