BICKFORD, Douglas Fitzgerald
| Service Number: | 428902 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 22 October 1942 |
| Last Rank: | Flight Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | No. 158 Squadron (RAF) |
| Born: | Greenwich, New South Wales, Australia, 3 March 1924 |
| Home Town: | Gordon, Ku-ring-gai, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Knox Grammar School, Wahroonga, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation: | Technical Trainee (Engineering) |
| Died: | Halifax Bomber shot down over Nuremberg in a night bombing raid, Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany, 31 March 1944, aged 20 years |
| Cemetery: |
Hanover War Cemetery Grave Reference 4 F 5, |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, International Bomber Command Centre Memorial, Wahroonga Knox Grammar School Old Boys' War Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 22 Oct 1942: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Aircraftman, 428902, Aircrew Training Units | |
|---|---|---|
| 22 Oct 1942: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Sergeant, 428902 | |
| 31 Mar 1944: | Involvement Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Sergeant, 428902, No. 158 Squadron (RAF), Air War NW Europe 1939-45, mid-upper gunner crewing LW724, radio call sign NP-S, during the air attack on Nuremberg on the night of 30 March 1944. Their plane was shot down by a German aircraft and crashed near Herborn-Seelbach. Bomb AImer FO Shanahan bailed out and was taken prisoner of war in Germany. The rest of the crew were killed. |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by IAN MILNES
At 2200 hours on the night of 30 March 1944 Halifax LW724 took off from Lissett detailed to bomb Nurnberg, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. When outbound at 20,000 feet, LW724 was shot down by an ME110 and crashed near Herborn-Seelbach, Germany. Six of the crew members were killed and one was taken prisoner.
The crew members of LW724 were:
Flight Sergeant Douglas Fitzgerald Bickford (428902) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Louis James Craven (1455585) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Warrant Officer Eric Ronald Fergus MacLeod (414312) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Ernest Roy Moore (422625) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant James Arthur Nicholson (428765) (Mid Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Leonard Gower Paxman (420999) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Anthony Shanahan (423908) (Air Bomber) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 5 October 1945
In his PoW report Flying Officer Shanahan stated: “Shot up by a night fighter. Bale out ordered at 20,000 feet by Captain and all acknowledged. No one was injured until Nav had baled out and I was knocked unconscious by bullet through head. Five were still in the aircraft. Aircraft was out of control and on fire. Aircraft crashed about 10 minutes from Nuremburg. I did not see Moore (Nav) again. I was wounded before I baled out and unconscious until captured. Released by British Army at Trenthorst.”
Biography contributed by Elizabeth Allen
Douglas Fitzgerald BICKFORD was born on 3rd March, 1924 in Greenwich, Sydney, NSW
His parents were Charles Reginald BICKFORD & Kathleen May JONES who married in Western Australia in 1920
His father Charles Reginald BICKFORD was a Lieutenant in the Field Company Engineers during World War 1
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