Pilot Officer 

Joseph John Fletcher

Joseph John Fletcher was born on the 25th of October 1916 in Jundah, Queensland, to Mr Norman and Mrs Annie Fletcher. He had two younger siblings, his brother Keith and his sister Merle

Joseph John Fletcher born on the 25th of October 1916 in Jundah, Queensland, to Mr Norman and Mrs Annie Fletcher. He had two younger siblings, his brother Keith and sister Merle. Joseph Fletcher was an avid tennis player and won multiple tennis championships, both in Junior and Men’s contests. Before his enlistment in the Royal Australian Air Force on the 8th of November 1941 he lived in Upper Coomera where he worked a as banana grower. Joseph Fletcher married Grace Lane on Christmas Day 1941 and they had one child together. Grace was the younger sister of Albert Lane who is also listed on the Upper Coomera Cenotaph. Following his training Pilot Officer Fletcher was posted to England where he joined No. 463 Squadron RAAF.

No. 463 Squadron was raised on the 25th of November 1942 from 'C' flight of No. 467 Squadron and became part of 5 Group. Based at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire, it was equipped with new Lancaster bombers which was coming off the production lines in numbers. The squadron began flying operations the day after it was formed. In 17 months of combat operations, No. 463 Squadron flew 2,525 sorties and dropped 11,430 imperial tons of bombs. Its aircraft were credited with shooting down six enemy fighters. These actions were part of RAF Bomber Command’s strategic bombing campaign, a sustained effort throughout the war to destroy Germany’s war fighting industries and infrastructure (and inadvertently, much of its cities). No. 463 Squadron paid a high price for these operations losing 78 aircraft and 546 aircrew of whom 225 were Australians, earning the unenviable record of the highest loss rate among the Australian heavy bomber squadrons in England. No. 463 Squadron was disbanded at the war's end on the 25th of September 1945.

On the 11^th of June 1944 No. 463 Squadron conducted a bombing mission near the French city of Poitiers. The target of this raid was the Poitiers rail yards, a key transport hub that the Germans were using to reinforce their armies opposing the Allied Normandy Landings (Operation Overlord). Although a successful raid the squadron lost one aircraft Lancaster ADV229 commanded by Pilot Officer Fletcher. Pilot Officer Fletcher was the only crew member who was killed, and although not explicitly stated by the records, this is likely because Pilot Officer Fletcher remained at the controls of the aircraft sacrificing himself to allow his crew to escape. He was buried in the Ste Gemmes-le-Robert Communal Cemetery, France, not far from where he was shot down.

No. 463 Squadron RAAF Lancasters - Video Australian War Memorial

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