John Robert TREE

TREE, John Robert

Service Number: 425781
Enlisted: 26 April 1942
Last Rank: Flight Sergeant
Last Unit: No. 83 Squadron (RAF) (Pathfinder Force)
Born: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 9 December 1922
Home Town: Mitchelton, Brisbane, Queensland
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Sheet Metal Worker
Died: Flying Battle, Denmark, 29 January 1944, aged 21 years
Cemetery: Aabenraa Cemetery
5 18, Aabenraa Cemetery, Aabenraa, Sonderjylland, Denmark
Memorials: Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, International Bomber Command Centre Memorial
Show Relationships

World War 2 Service

26 Apr 1942: Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Aircraftman 2 (WW2), 425781, No. 3 Initial Training School Sandgate
14 Jun 1942: Involvement Royal Australian Air Force, Leading Aircraftman, 425781, No. 3 Wireless Air Gunnery School Maryborough , Empire Air Training Scheme
12 Jul 1942: Involvement Royal Australian Air Force, Leading Aircraftman, 425781, No. 1 Bombing and AIr Gunnery School / No. 1 Air Observers School / Evans Head, Empire Air Training Scheme
18 Jul 1942: Promoted Royal Australian Air Force, Leading Aircraftman, No. 1 Bombing and AIr Gunnery School / No. 1 Air Observers School / Evans Head
7 Jan 1943: Promoted Royal Australian Air Force, Sergeant
6 Mar 1943: Embarked Royal Australian Air Force, Sergeant, 425781, 1 Embarkation Depot
4 May 1943: Involvement Royal Australian Air Force, Sergeant, 425781, Operational Training Units (RAF), Empire Air Training Scheme, No. 19 OTU UK
9 Jun 1943: Involvement Royal Australian Air Force, Sergeant, 425781, RAF Conversion Units , Empire Air Training Scheme, No. 1661 Conversion Unit
15 Jul 1943: Promoted Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Sergeant, RAF Conversion Units
20 Jul 1943: Involvement Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Sergeant, 425781, No. 61 Squadron (RAF), Air War NW Europe 1939-45
20 Jul 1943: Involvement Royal Australian Air Force, Sergeant, 425781, No. 61 Squadron (RAF), Air War NW Europe 1939-45
15 Sep 1943: Transferred Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Sergeant, No. 83 Squadron (RAF) (Pathfinder Force), The entire crew would have been identified as being of the standard sought for service in a Pathfinder unit
29 Jan 1944: Involvement Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Sergeant, 425781, No. 83 Squadron (RAF) (Pathfinder Force), Air War NW Europe 1939-45, Lost when his aircraft JB412 was shot down over Skovbol Denmark on a raid to Berlin on 29 January 1944. Tree bailed out successfully but landed in the ocean and drowned or succumbed to hypothermia. His body was later recovered when it washed ashore.

John Tree's Last Air Force Leave

February 1943 at Bell's Paddock, Mitchelton, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

"On John's last Air Force leave in Australia, a carnival was held and a widely advertised footrace was to be part of it. John went along with some of his friends without any intention of racing, but was persuaded to enter. Contestants had come from all over Brisbane dressed in their athletic gear and spiked running shoes, which John had never owned or worn.

The race was a handicap event, which meant that the starting positions of the runners were spaced according to their best times previously recorded. When John went forward to line up he was asked what his best time for the distance was. He had to tell them that he had never been in a race that had been timed. The organiser of the race then told him he would have to start as the backmarker at the rear of all the other runners. All John knew was that he had never lost a race in his life. So did his mates, which was why they had persuaded him to enter.
John was dressed in Air Force uniform, so he took off his shoes and socks, rolled the legs of his trousers up past his knees, and took up his starting position with every other runner way ahead of him. The race started and John shot past all of them to win the race.

John was a quiet young man, always neat and careful of his appearance. He had been captain of his school cricket team, captain of a successful tennis team, and vice-captain of the local soccer team. (His uncle Carson Laird was the captain.) To this day, the Mitchelton Soccer Club still awards the John Tree Memorial Cup to its best and fairest player of the season." (As written to me by John's younger brother Arthur Tree)

Read more...
Showing 1 of 1 story

Biography contributed by Steve Larkins

John  Robert TREE (1922-1944)

John Robert Tree was born in Brisbane, the son of Arthur and Rachel, with three siblings; Arthur, Hazel and Annie.  They were living in Mitchelton, a suburb of Brisbane when he enlisted for service in the RAAF in 1942.

First port of call for an enlistee was determination of suitability for a 'mustering', the trade or skills set in which the candidate would find themselves employed.

John was mustered Air Crew (which can be determined by the fact that his service number commences with a '4'). He  was sent to No 3 Initial Training School at Sandgate a beachside suburb of Brisbane. The ITS conducted further screening tests and John was identified for Air Gunnery training, which in his case saw him despatched to Maryborough and No. 3 Wireless and Air Gunnery School, and then to Evans Head and No. 1 Bombing and Air  Gunnery School.

There was a prescribed progression of training and John completed each stage before embarking from Melbourne in March 1943 to complete his training in the UK.  He undertook Operational Training and then 'crewed up' with the men he would fly with before completed Conversion Training as a a crew in the aircraft type (Lancasters) they would be operating in. 

Posted initially to No. 61 Squadron, they were identified as possessing the attributes that the Pathfinders were looking for and in September 1943, they joined No. 83 Squadron in the Pathfinder Force.

This description of what happened on 29 January 1944, comes from the 'Air War over Denmark' site.

The aircraft belonged to RAF 83 Sqn Bomber Command and was coded OL-B.
T/o 00:19 Wyton OP: Berlin.

While outbound JB412 was attacked by a JU 88C night fighter of II./NJG 3 with the crew of Pilot Hauptmann Gerhard Raht, Funker Feldwebel Anton Heinemann and Bordmechaniker Unteroffizier Werner Hesse and controlled by the radar station “Star” based at Lütjenhorn in Northern Germany. At 02:37 the Lancaster exploded in the air and the wreckage were spread over a radius of 2½ kilometres just north of the village of Varnæs.

During the morning the surviving flyers and their parachutes began to show up. There were reports of parachutes found at Tråsbøl, Brobøl, Ullerup and Bovrup. In a field near Bovrup was found a dead flyer and his parachute. In the same area was found a dead flyer without parachute.

At 07:32 hours W/O John Fell knocked on the door at a farm in Rufas near Ullerup. The flyer was picked up by the Wehrmacht.

A flyer landed in parachute on the roof of the house next to the telephone exchange at Skoletoften 12 in Blans. It was Pilot William Simpson who hurt his forehead when falling from the roof. He was taken to the exchange and had the wound dressed. No one of those Danes present had any command of the English language but Simpson still tried to persuade them into hiding him. Due to there being quite a lot of German sympathizers in the village no one dared hiding him. Apparently, someone had seen him and at 09:20 two German soldiers arrived on a motorcycle and picked him up.

At 14:23 F/Sgt William Livesay came to the farm Ballegård in Blans. He was picked up by the Wehrmacht.

Air Bomber P/O Ronald Pilgrim landed near Ullerup and hid in a shack belonging to the Vicarage. When evening came he sneaked into the barn. Here he was found around nine o`clock by the son of Reverend Warncke. The Reverend was admitted to the hospital, but Mrs. Warncke tried to find a way to help the flyer. She called Reverend Sjellerup of Nybøl and together they tried to find a way out.

They did not have any luck and as a last resort they called the Chief Constable Bjerre of Gråsten. He however declared that he would inform the Wehrmacht where they could pick Pilgrim up.

Pilgrim was along with the rest of the crew sent to Dulag Luft at Oberursel near Frankfurt an Main where he arrived on 31/1 and stayed until 3/2 when he was sent to Stalag Luft III. He arrived on 6/2-1944 and stayed until 28/1-1945 when he was sent to MARLAG/MILAG Tarmstedt where he arrived on 4/2. He was liberated on 11/4-1945.

Simpson arrived in Dulag Lufton 31/1-1944 and stayed until 5/2 when he was sent to Stalag Luft II Sagan where he arrived on 8/2. He stayed until 12/2-1945 when he was sent to Stalag XIII o Nürnberg where he arrived on 17/2. On 4/4-1945 he was sent to Stalag VII A Moosburg where he stayed from 13/4 until liberation on 29/4 1945.

Livesay was transferred from Dulag Luft after questioning and arrived at Stalag Luft I Barth on 13/2 1944. He stayed until liberation on 1/5 1945.

Fell left Dulag Luft and arrived at Stalag Luft VI Heydekrug on 13/2 and stayed until 15/4 1944 when he was sent to Stalag Luft IV Kiefeheide where he arrived on 19/4 and stayed until 6/2 1945. On 26/3 1945 he arrived in Stalag IIB Fallingbostel where he stayed until liberation on 8/4 1945.

 

The two dead flyers found near Bovrup were Flt. Engr. Sgt Thomas K. McCash and Navigator F/S John J. Martin. They were both laid to rest in Aabenraa cemetery on 2/2 1944.

The third casualty Air Gnr. F/Sgt John R. Tree RAAF had landed in the sea and was found drowned in Alssund near Sønderborg on 19/6 and was laid to rest in Aabenraa cemetery on 22/6 1944.

Sources : AS 70-361, Report Aabenraa police, LBUK, BCL, BA, John Vaupel, CWGC, Heinemann, Nonnenmacher file, WO 344/187/2 & /160(2) & /288/2 & 253/1.

 

Read more...