HARRIS, Albert John
| Service Number: | 405680 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 24 May 1941 |
| Last Rank: | Warrant Officer |
| Last Unit: | No. 460 Squadron (RAAF) |
| Born: | Townsville, Queensland, Australia, 19 April 1916 |
| Home Town: | Townsville, Townsville, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Clerk |
| Died: | 2 January 1964, aged 47 years, cause of death not yet discovered, place of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 24 May 1941: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Warrant Officer, 405680 | |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Feb 1946: | Discharged Royal Australian Air Force, Warrant Officer, 405680 | |
| Date unknown: | Involvement Warrant Officer, 405680, No. 460 Squadron (RAAF) |
Help us honour Albert John Harris's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Albert was the youngest of three children of William George Harris (born 1182 in Glamorganshire, Wales) and Ann (Annie) Lawson (born 1883 in Staffordhire, England). William worked on the Great Western Railway as a Locomotive Cleaner in Worcesthershire, before moving to Staffordshire in 1911, where he was an Insurance Agent when he married Ann - a Dressmaker - in June 1911. Ann and William immigrated in December 1911 to QLD and raised their family in Townsville and Maryborough, where William was a Clerk.
Albert was a Clerk working in Townsville in 1938 when he married Annie Geraldine Anderson (born 1909 in Nottinghamshire, England). Annie was a School Teacher in Townsville.
Albert enlisted in the RAAF in May 1941 and served as a Flight Sergeant and Warrant Officer (Service No:405680) with 640 Squadron. The Squadron had been established under the 1939 Empire Air Training Scheme which provided for Canada, Australia and New Zealand to provide trained air crew members to the RAF. Albert was a crew member on Lancaster W4986 (AR-E) which was shot down in a raid over Dortmund on 23/24 May 1943. Albert was WiA and captured by the Germans, He was taken to the Oberursel, Obertaunus Camp, where captured Allied crews were taken for interrogation (which usually lasted a week) before being assigned to a permanent internment camp.
Albert was Discharged in February 1946 and he and Annie settled at Corinda in Brisbane, QLD where he was an Accountant. Albert died in 1964 and Annie in 1996.