RAF 156 Squadron Warrant Officer: William Thomas Alsbury

In August 1944 a large raid was planned on the Opel plant at Rüsselsheim near Frankfurt, about 700 kilometres away. For the Opel raid the bomber force comprised 15 Pathfinder aircraft and 282 heavy bombers. (1)

PB209 took off at 22.01 on Saturday 12 August 1944, carrying red and green marker flares plus some incendiary bombs to light up the target for following aircraft as Pathfinder aircraft did not normally carry high explosive bombs.(2) The seven crew members included four Australians:
RAAF 407529 Flt Lt J N McDonald, DFM Captain (Pilot)
RAF Sgt E W Hunter (Flight Engineer)
RAAF 403914 Flt Lt S L Dennis DFC (Navigator)
RAAF 403983 FO L L Deed DFC (Air Bomber)
RAF WO W T Alsbury (Wireless Air Gunner)
RAAF 406522 FO D W Dunham (Mid Upper Gunner)
RAF Flt Sgt R H Valencia (Rear Gunner)