Flying Officer Charles Cameron RAAF
434868
Mid Upper Gunner
Charles Cameron was born in Adelaide South Australia on 7th November 1913. He married Eileen on the 1st June 1940 and then enlisted in the AIF in Adelaide on the 10th June 1940. He was attached to 59th Battalion, 2/9th Field Regiment as a Gunner. On the 7th of July he was promoted to Acting Bombardier but reverted back to Gunner a month later.
He was subsequently detailed to a PT Instruction Class at Ingleburn before returning to 2/9 Army Field Regiment. On the 2nd of December he was appointed Special Group 3 gunlayer at Holsworthy Army Base. Later that month he was granted pre-embarkation leave. The 2/9 Field Regiment departed for overseas on the 9th April 1941. En-route Cameron was confirmed to the rank of Bombardier. They arrived in the Middle East on the 3rd May 1941. Three weeks later his wife gave birth to a daughter, Joyce. Bombardier Cameron fought in the Middle East for the remainder of 1941 and into 1942. It was then that he contracted Malaria and spent periods of time in hospital.
In February 1943, Cameron requested a discharge from the Army so that he could enlist in the RAAF and on the 2nd March 1943 enlisted at 2 RAAF Receiving Centre in Sydney. Aircraftsman Cameron was posted to 2 Initial Training School (2ITS) at Linfield, NSW. After his initial training at Linfield, AC2 Cameron was posted to 8 Elementary Flying Training School (8EFTS) at Narrandera, NSW with a promotion to Leading Aircraftsman (LAC). On the day he completed his training at 8EFTS, 25th June 1943, his wife gave birth to their second child, Renee. Although successfully completing the flying training, LAC Cameron was sent to 1 Bombing and Gunnery School (1BAGS) at Evans Head, NSW. On the 14th October completed his gunnery course and received his Air Gunners Badge. He was also commissioned as a Pilot Officer.
From Evans Head, Pilot Officer Cameron was sent to 2 Embarkation Depot to await an overseas posting. On the 4th November 1943, he went to 11 Personnel Depot and Receiving Centre (11PDRC) before boarding his ship en-route to the United Kingdom. The ship arrived in the UK on the 10th December and P/O Cameron was posted to 27 Operational Training Unit (27OTU) at Lichfield to undergo operational air gunner's training.
On the 14th April 1944, Cameron was promoted to Flying Officer and on the 10th May he was sent to 51 Base to await assignment to an aircrew. In June 1944 he joined Squadron Leader Langlois and the rest of the crew for crew training at 1661 Heavy Conversion Unit on Lancasters. F/O Cameron and the rest of the crew were then attached to 463 Squadron at Waddington on the 11th August 1944.
As part of Squadron Leader Langlois's crew, F/O Cameron flew on 10 operations as Mid Upper Gunner, although he did fill in as Rear Gunner for one mission after F/O Hamilton was killed. For some reason F/O Cameron didn't fly on S/Ldr Langlois's first sortie on the 13 August 1944.
On the 9th of October 1944, S/Ldr Langlois's crew was transferred to 467 Squadron, also at Waddington. Between this date and the end of February 1945, the crew flew six successful sorties. On the seventh (3/3/45), they flew to Ladbergen to bomb the Dortmund-Ems canal. However as they approached the target their Lancaster was hit by cannon fire from an ME110 night fighter. Although, it was thought, all of the crew managed to bail out and land safely, F/O Cameron, along with W/Cdr Langlois, Sgt Scott, F/O Reid and F/O Patten, were possibly captured by the S.S. and executed. Only the replacement Bomb Aimer, F/O Joseph Willmot and Rear Gunner F/O Ray Taylor survived.