Richard Rodney (Rod) YOUNG

Richard Rodney (Rod) YOUNG Update Details

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YOUNG, Richard Rodney

Service Numbers:	429369, 429369
Enlisted:	11 September 1942
Last Rank:	Flying Officer
Last Unit:	No. 463 Squadron (RAAF)
Born:	West Maitland, New South Wales, Australia, 22 January 1919
Home Town:	Charleville, Murweh, Queensland
Schooling:	West Maitland Technical College, New South Wales Australia.
Occupation:	Jackeroo
Died:	Flying Battle, Giessen, Germany, 7 December 1944, aged 25 years
Cemetery:	Hanover War Cemetery Plot 5, Row F, Grave 17 Headstone inscription reads: Loved son of Mr. & Mrs. R.A. Young of Charleville Queensland Roll of Honour - Charleville, Hannover War Cemetery, Hannover, Germany
Memorials:	Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, International Bomber Command Centre Memorial

World War 2 Service

11 Sep 1942:	Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Aircraftman 2 (WW2), 429369, Aircrew Training Units, Enlisted at Brisbane
11 Sep 1942:	Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Flying Officer, 429369
1 Jul 1944:	Involvement Royal Australian Air Force, Flying Officer, 429369 , Operational Training Units (RAF), Empire Air Training Scheme
7 Dec 1944:	Involvement Royal Australian Air Force, Flying Officer, 429369, No. 463 Squadron (RAAF), Air War NW Europe 1939-45

Help us honour Richard Rodney Young's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.

Biography contributed by Steve Larkins

Richard Rodney YOUNG (1919-1944)

Richard Young was born in West Maitland in the Hunter Valley in NSW, son of Son of Richard Alexander Young and Inez Berrie Young.

He enlisted into the RAAF on 11 September 1942 from Charleville, in Queensland where his family was residing at that time, and commenced training as a pilot under the Empire Air Training Scheme.

Flying Officer YOUNG was the pilot of Lancaster PB290 JO-K when it took off from RAF Base Waddington on the night of 6/7th December 1944 to bomb the marshalling yards at Giessen, Germany.

Of the nineteen aircraft from the Squadron that took part in the raid, only PB290 JO-K failed to return. Flt Sgt Henderson; Sergeant Phillip J Gwynne RAF (Flight Engineer); 419821 Flying Officer (FO) Henry Stanley (Mack) MacMeikan RAAF (Bomb Aimer); 434484 FO Gwynne Thomas RAAF (Wireless Operator Air); 431448 Flt Sgt Richard (Dick) Thurston Hawthorn RAAF (Air Gunner); 429369 FO Richard Rodney (Rod) Young, RAAF (Pilot) and 433194 FO Alan Campbell Bond RAAF (Navigator) were reported as lost on operations.

Following the war, it was later established that the aircraft crashed into woods about 3km north-east of Giessen. At the time of the crash, the remains of FO Young, FO MacMeikan, Flt Sgt Hawthorn and Sgt Gwynne, were recovered and buried in Giessen local cemetery. Later, they were reinterred in the Hanover War Cemetery.

In 2004, German historians found part of the Lancaster's wreckage, and the remains of FO Bond, FO Thomas and Flt Sgt Henderson in a forest near Giessen. 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 13 September 2005.

He is listed on the Charleville War Memorial in addition to the AWM Roll of Honour

From AWM sources - image captions

Virtual
War Memorial
Australia