32

R. G. COLLENDER

2.

Early in October he was posted to No. 11 Operational Training
Unit, Westcott, Buckinghamshire. From Westcott, and the
nearby satellite aerodrome of Oakley he trained on Wellington
aircraft. On the completion of the course late in January,
1944, he was posted to No. 1657 Conversion Unit, Stradishall,
Suffolk, where he trained as a wireless operator on Stirling
aircraft. Early in April he proceeded to No. 3 Lancaster
Finishing School, Feltwell, Norfolk, for training on Lancaster
aircraft.

On the 18th April, 1944, P/O Collender was posted to
No. 514 Squadron, Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire. From Waterbeach,
as wireless operator on Lancaster aircraft, he took part in 27
operational flights. These included raids on targets of
Essen, Dusseldorf, Kiel, Stuttgart, Bremen, Frankfurt, and
Karlsruhe, in Germany; and Paris, Wissant, Le Havre, and Le Mans,
in France. On the 6th June - "D" Day - he took part in air
operations against the target of Lisieux, Normandy, France, in
support of the Allied invasion of this area.

P/O Collender was a member of the crew of a Lancaster
aircraft which took off from Waterbeach for the target of Frankfurt,
on the the night of the 12/13th September, 1944, and failed to return
to its base. All the members of the crew, including P/O Collender,
were reported missing. This was P/O Collender's 28th operational
flight. In December, information received from Air Ministry
through the International Red Cross Committee, stated that P/O
Collender lost his life on the 12th September, 1944. His death
has since been presumed to have occurred on that date. F/Sgt
K.V. Stafford, of Wellington, was the only other New Zealand
member of the crew.

5/2/8170 AS2
464 hrs. as W.O.A.G.

Mrs H.O. Hobbs (M)
11 Stanley Street,
Berhampore,
WELLINGTON.