BATES, Dudley Clive
| Service Number: | 426426 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 22 June 1942 |
| Last Rank: | Flight Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | No. 9 Squadron (RAF) |
| Born: | Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 15 October 1923 |
| Home Town: | Brisbane, Brisbane, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Clerk |
| Died: | Flying Battle, France, 18 April 1944, aged 20 years |
| Cemetery: |
Clichy Northern Cemetery, France Plot 16 Row 15 Collective grave 16-18 |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, International Bomber Command Centre Memorial, Maryborough No. 3 Wireless Air Gunners' School Memorial Wall |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Flight Sergeant, 426426 | |
|---|---|---|
| 22 Jun 1942: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force | |
| 22 Jun 1942: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Sergeant, 426426, No. 9 Squadron (RAAF) | |
| 18 Apr 1944: | Involvement Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Sergeant, 426426, No. 9 Squadron (RAF), Air War NW Europe 1939-45 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by David Barlow
Wireless Air Gunner FSGT Bates was the tail-gunner on Lancaster LM361 of Number 9 Squadron (Bomber Command based at RAF Bardney in Lincolnshire) which was shot down over Paris, France, while attacking the railway marshalling yards at Juvisy
Three RAF crewmen were also killed and all four men are buried side-by-side in the Commonwealth War Graves section of Clichy North Cemetery in north-west Paris.
Three crew members, including two RAAF officers, survived baling out of the aircraft. Flying Officer James Arthur Smith (pilot) 413909 (O22022) RAAF and one RAF member made their way back to England through a neutral country. The other RAAF officer, Flying Officer Kevin William Light DFM 402447, was captured and become a Prisoner of War of the Germans.
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