Sergeant Donald John Neale was the son of Walter Breakey and Dorothy(nee Jeffery) Neale of 9 Sydney Road, Bedford. Donald was their second son, born in Cambridge on the 1^st of October 1924. His older brother Walter Albert Jeffery Neale was a motor mechanic before joining the RAF in 1940.

 After leaving school Donald worked as an apprentice turner at W.H.Allen (Rolls Royce Engines) of Bedford. He was exempt from joining up but decided to volunteer, enlisting on the 15^th of March 1943 and serving just 17 months before he was killed. Donald is remembered as fun loving and outgoing but was also artistic and enjoyed drawing. He was always drawing aircraft and had many aviation books. A keen sportsman, he excelled at both rugby and football.

 A post war investigation carried out by the Missing Research & Enquiry Services(No 4 Unit) concluded that body remains and parts of an aircraft had been found in Brodersdorf woods. The body remains being buried at Kiel. It is thought that the remains were either from Lancaster HK 556 of 115 squadron or Lancaster LM230.German records indicate that an aircraft crashed in the Gemeinde Brodersdorf at 23.10 hours on the 26/27^th August 1944,exploding with all bombs on board, leaving a huge water filled crater with a depth of at least twenty feet. The German records report that the crew were presumably dead The report remains on the file of F/O Donald Holder RNZAF pilot of HK556/F.

Donald and his crew have no known grave and are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.