Photomontage of the crew of Lancaster JA902, 'D for Dog', No. 463 Squadron RAAF. The crew, five Australians and two Englishmen, went missing on an operation to Berlin on the night of 2–3 January 1944 and it is not clear who put this photo compilation together. The picture in the middle is of the captain, RAAF Pilot Officer Jack Weatherill, and in his 'casualty' file in the National Archives of Australia the fate of JA902 is revealed. The bomber crashed on the Noord-Oost-Polder, one of the areas of reclaimed land in Holland protected by dikes from the waters of the North Sea, but no evidence has come to light about how the aircraft met its fate. The bodies of five of the crew, including Weatherill, were recovered and lie buried in the Vollenhove General Cemetery. Flight Lieutenant VJ McCauley of the RAF's Missing Research Enquiry Unit (Brussels) visited the area, where local engineers of the Netherlands Land Reclamation Board informed him that it would be very costly to recover the wreck of the Lancaster as it was buried beneath the topsoil in saturated sand. It was a cost beyond the resources of the Enquiry Unit. A memorial cross marks the spot today where the bomber crashed. [Weatherill, Jack, Pilot Officer, Casualty, Lancaster JA902, item 166/43/480, A705, National Archives of Australia; AWM P03621.001]
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