William James Rooke                                                                                   Updated: 13 SEP 2021

Airman: e777024.htm Surname: Rooke Init: W J Rank: F/Sgt Service: RAAF Sqdn: 49

P_link: p208.htm Plane: LAN JA851 Operation: Bomb G Crash_site: Hellesø

Crash_d: d180843 Buried_d: e777 C_link: e777.htm At_Next: NO KNOWN

"Natten til den 18. august 1943 angreb næsten 600 RAF bombere den tyske forsøgsstation ved Peenemünde på øen Usedom, nord for Stettin.
Under returflyvningen fra dette mål blev 3 "Lancaster" fly skudt ned mellem kl. 02.54 og 03.11 af en og samme tyske natjager. Samtlige ombordværende britiske flyvere omkom." (FAF) Se beretning fra Pilot, Oberleutnant Hans Meisner modtaget fra Jørgen Jørgensen, Flystyrt.dk. Se kilden i  p208MACR.

Se Det Historiske-Tekniske Museum i Peenemünde.

LAN JA851 styrtede i havet her efter først at have ramt strandvolden, hvor flyet efterlod tydelige fordybninger fra de 4 motorer. (Kilde: Gunnar Hounsgaard).
Flyets pilot, T.E. Tomlin blev begravet den 20. september 1943, tilsyneladende uden gejstlig medvirken. De øvrige 6 besætningsmedlemmer har ingen kendt grav.

Pilot Officer William James Rooke, 26 år, var søn af Franklin Richard og Vivian Grace Rooke, Blackall, Queensland, Australien.
Hans navn er på Panel 191 på the Runnymede Memorial blandt mere end 20.000 navne på flyvere, der ikke har en kendt grav. (Kilde: CWGC)

Se monument afsløret 17. august 2003 her ved Hellesøvej 1, 6430 Nordborg i landsbyen Holm og mindetale af Gunnar Hounsgaard.
Se The missing airman (link til fotos) om George Silvester fra dette fly. Se Ruten over Danmark og Nedskydning og øjenvidneberetning fra Jørgen Jørgensen.
Se også Lancaster fotos og p208MACR. 7 flyvere.

 "On the night before 18 August, 1943 nearly 600 RAF bombers attacked the German military test site at Peenemünde on the island of Usedom, north of Stettin.
During the return flight from this target 3 Lancasters were shot down between 02.54 and 03.11 by the very same German night fighter. All British airmen on board
perished." (FAF) See account from Pilot, Oberleutnant Hans Meisner received from Jørgen Jørgensen, Flystyrt.dk. See the source in p208MACR.

See The Historical Technical Museum in Peenemünde. 
The 3 planes: LAN JA851 crashed here at Hellesø gård, LAN JA691 at Barsmark here  and LAN EE117 at Ustrup here.

LAN JA851 crashed into the sea here after it had hit the embankment at the beach, where the plane left visible dents from the 4 engines. (Source: Gunnar Hounsgaard)
The pilot, T.E. Tomlin, was buried on 20 September, 1943, apparently with no ecclesiastical assistance. The other 6 members of the crew have no known grave.

Pilot Officer William James Rooke, 26, was the son of Franklin Richard and Vivian Grace Rooke, of Blackall, Queensland, Australia.
He is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial, Panel 191, among more than 20,000 airmen who have no known grave. (Source: CWGC)
Virtual War Memorial Australia has this. He is remembered on The Walls of Names at the International Bomber Command Centre, Phase 1, Panel 92.

See monument unveiled on 17 August, 2003 here at Hellesøvej 1, DK-6430 Nordborg in the village of Holm and  memorial speech by Gunnar Hounsgaard.   
See The missing airman (link to photos) about George Silvester from this plane.

See No. 49 Squadron RAF - Wikipedia*49 Squadron Association*RAF-Lincolnshire - 49 Sqn*Lancaster Photos*RAF Fiskerton HOME PAGE*RAF Fiskerton Airfield
Lancaster III JA851 ES-P took off from RAF Fiskerton at 21.43 hrs on 17 AUG 1943. (Source: Aircrew Remembered has this.) See p208MACR. 7 airmen.