Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Son of Wentworth Arthur and Gladys May Armstrong, of Gordon, New South Wales, Australia.

Plane was Halifax 111 NA 508 of 77 Squadron crahed on air operations over Sterkrade, Germany

Gordon Arthur Armstrong was born 23 July 1922 at Warrawee, NSW the son of Wentworth and Gladys Armstrong of Gordon (Sydney). Gordon attended Barker College in Sydneyfor his high school education followed by an accountancy degree. He was working as anAudit Clerk for Harris and Harne, Sydney before enlisting in July 1942.Gordon was in the 1stAustralian Army Battalion from 1940 to 1942 before deciding to try the RAAF.He trained as a Bomb Aimer in Australia and Canada under the Empire Air Training Scheme and was posted to 77 Squadron RAF at Full Sutton, Yorkshire. Embarked at Melbourne 2 November 1942 arriving in Canada on November 27. Gordon had an appendectomy operation at Dartmouth Station Hospital in Canada on 20 May 1943. Once fully recovered he finished his training andleft for England on 29 June 1943 arriving there a week later on 7 July1943. Then it was onto27 OTU for further training,he was promoted to Flight Sergeant on 2 October whilst at OTU.41 Base HQfollowed in December finally arrivingat 77 Squadron 23 March 1944 .Gordon was killed alongside his six other crew members on the night of 17 June 1944 when his Halifax III, serial number NA508, was hit with flack during araid on the synthetic oil works at Sterkrade, Germany and crashed in the marshy land at Amstelveen (Noord-Brabant), near Amsterdam, Holland. Aged 21 at the time of his death.

CREW:RAAFPilot Officer R A W Blair -PilotRAFSergeant H L Moore -Flight EngineerRAAFPilot Officer L G Pratt -ObserverRAAFFlight Sergeant G A Armstrong -Air BomberRAAFWarrant Officer J P O’Meara -Wireless Air GunnerRAAFFlying Officer J M Date -Mid Upper GunnerRAFSergeant D G Tastin -Tail GunnerA 1947 report by a Missing Research & Enquiry team stated “the Communal Police at Neuwer-Amstel reported that the aircraft crashed in flames at Neuwer-Amstel on the night of 16/17 June, 1944.German documents confirmed that only one body was recovered that of WO O’Meara”.He is buried at the Bergen-Op-Zoom War Cemetery, Netherlands.

Until 1990 the other six crew members hadno known grave and their names are commemorated on the Memorial to the Missing, Runnymede, Surrey. It was in June of that year that the wreckage of NA508 was uncovered by the Recovery Team of the Royal Netherlands Air Force, including the remains of five of the crew, who were buried at the Bergen op Zoom Canadian War Cemetery on 8 October 1991.

Gordon is remembered with honour at the Australian War Memorialand the Roll of Honour at Gordon, NSWand the Runnymede Memorial in Surrey

https://docplayer.net/57197404-77-squadron-raf-raaf-airmen-killed-whilst-on-active-service-with-77-squadron-raf-world-war-ii.html