Studio portrait of 411381 Aircraftman (later Flight Sergeant [Flt Sgt] and Pilot Officer) James ...

Studio portrait of 411381 Aircraftman (later Flight Sergeant [Flt Sgt] and Pilot Officer) James Darcy William Renno RAAF. Later awarded a DFM, he was a wireless operator with No 100 Squadron RAF. He was on operations to Bochum, Germay in May 1943 when his aircraft was hit over the target area. Though wounded, Flt Sgt Renno assisted in bringing the aircraft home for which he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal (DFM). After recovering from his wounds, Renno returned to 100 Squadron and on the night of 2/3 August took part in a raid on Hamburg. The 740 bombers involved
encountered a severe thunderstorm and many were forced to turn back; Renno’s aircraft failed to return to base. In the 1950s his father wrote “We lost our only son in the last war…..I wanted to know if you could arrange to have his medals in the war memorial….He was the last of the name and it will die out now. I am asking for his sake and sacrifice” Pilot Officer Renno’s medals are held in the collection at
RELAWM32353.002 to RELAWM32353.006. He has no known grave.