Pilot Officer Bruce Frederick Greenwood

Service number 424584
Birth Date 1922-06-28
Death Date 1945-03-22
Death Place Germany
Final Rank Pilot Officer
Service Royal Australian Air Force
Unit No. 51 Squadron (RAF)
Place Germany
Conflict/Operation Second World War, 1939-1945
Description

Pilot Officer Bruce Frederick Greenwood enlisted to the Royal Australian Air Force on 15 September 1942. He trained as a navigator in Australia and Canada under the Empire Air Training Scheme, and went on to serve with 51 Squadron, based in the United Kingdom. In March 1945, Pilot Officer Greenwood and his crew were shot down over Germany after completing a bombing operation. The crew bailed out successfully. Five of the crew, including Pilot Officer Greenwood, were captured as prisoners of war and interrogated. Shortly afterwards, on 22 March 1945, they were taken to a nearby aerodrome by German soldiers and machine gunned from behind at a range of five feet. Pilot Officer Greenwood, alongside three of his fellow crew members was killed. One crewmember, Flying Officer Keith William Berick, escaped. His statements led to the identification and trial of the German soldiers, who were judged guilty of war crimes and subsequently executed. Pilot Officer Bruce Frederick Greenwood is buried at Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Kleve, Germany.

Rolls

  • Roll of Honour:

    Unit
    No. 51 Squadron (RAF)
    Conflict
    Second World War, 1939-1945
    Rank
    Pilot Officer

Timeline

Date of birth 28 June 1922
Date of death 22 March 1945