Australian Deaths in the RAAF/RAF. How did they occur? St Vincent

During WW2, Australians in the RAAF and RAF were buried or memorialised in 66 countries. How did these men die? Can you assist?

St Vincent.

CARTER, GEOFFREY JOHN HAMILTON
Sergeant
412229
45 TG RAF
12/04/1943

 

Trinidad & Tobago

MORRIS, ALAN ARTHUR
Pilot Officer
400280
53sq
28/09/1942

RISBEY, GEOFFREY THOMAS
Flying Officer
400834
53sq
15/09/1942

WALKER, JACK WARING PAIX
Flying Officer
401354
53sq
15/09/1942

 

Albania

Albania

POTTER, DENNIS HILTON
Flight Sergeant
427021
624sq RAF
1/02/1944

TENNANT, EDWARD DRAKE STEELE
Flight Sergeant
410105
624sq RAF
1/02/1944

WADDELL, PETER VICTOR
Warrant Officer
401163
249sq RAF
30/03/1944

 

Baltimore IIIA FA314. Destroyed by fire after crashing at Georgetown, St Vincent during ferry flight

Name: FAULKNER, LENNOX DANE
Initials: L D
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Captain
Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Transport Command
Date of Death: 12/04/1943
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Cemetery: GEORGETOWN CEMETERY

 

Thanks Kyt.

Good to know what happened.

I do have some at Takoradi as well which will possibly fall into the same category.

Cheers

Geoff

 

Halifax on special duties flight but I can't find a serial


Flt/Sgt. Edward Drake Steele Tennant R.A.A.F.

Sgt. Francis Cecil Rudolph Burlfinger R.A.F.V.R.

Sgt. George Gardner R.A.F.V.R.

Flt/Sgt Dennis Hilton Potter R.A.A.F.

F/O Ronald Edwin Stanley R.A.F.V.R.

Sgt. James Leo Devine R.A.F.V.R.

 

The only info I have for Waddell is from the Australian roll of honour:

Informal portrait of 401163 Warrant Officer (WO) Peter Victor Waddell of Melbourne, Vic, standing on the deck of the Polish steamer Narvick, which rescued him and seven other Australian sergeant pilots after the arcades was torpedoed. WO Waddell later served with 249 Squadron, RAF and was later lost on operations on 30 March 1944 over Albania.

Photo here: AWM Collection Record: P03809.006 - Informal portrait of 401163 Warrant Officer (WO) Peter Victor Waddell of Melbourne, Vic, standing on the deck of the Polish steamer Narvick, which rescued him and seven other Australian sergeant ...

 

Algeria

Algeria

The name of this cemetery is or is not appropriate!

BEALE, HERBERT ELDON
Pilot Officer
403021
179sq
21/01/1943
23
Royal Australian Air Force
Australian
VII. F. 18.
BONE WAR CEMETERY, ANNABA

FREEMAN, REGINALD THOMAS ARTHUR
Flight Sergeant
415777
458sq
27/11/1943
22
Royal Australian Air Force
Australian
I. C. 13.
BONE WAR CEMETERY, ANNABA

INGRAM, IAN ROSS
Flying Officer
403343
225sq
29/11/1942
22
Royal Australian Air Force
Australian
VI. A. 16.
BONE WAR CEMETERY, ANNABA

MUSCHIALLI, LOUIS JAMES
Flight Sergeant
410909
458sq
27/11/1943
21
Royal Australian Air Force
Australian
I. C. 16.
BONE WAR CEMETERY, ANNABA

REID, GORDON KEITH
Flight Sergeant
422702
458sq
27/11/1943
21
Royal Australian Air Force
Australian
I. F. 4.
BONE WAR CEMETERY, ANNABA

RICHARDS, JACK
Flight Sergeant
409851
458sq
27/11/1943
21
Royal Australian Air Force
Australian
I. F. 3.
BONE WAR CEMETERY, ANNABA

SANDILANDS, JOHN DOUGLAS
Sergeant
402613
15 OTU
16/02/1942
26
Royal Australian Air Force
Australian
III. D. 7.
BONE WAR CEMETERY, ANNABA STRANG,

ALAN LESLIE Sergeant
400311
21 OTU
17/02/1942
22
Royal Australian Air Force
Australian
III. D. 13.
BONE WAR CEMETERY, ANNABA

WESTON, RONALD VICTOR
Flying Officer
119195 255sq RAF
6/01/1943
28
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
UK
Coll. grave VIII. G. 1-13.
BONE WAR CEMETERY, ANNABA

WREN, WALTER ROBERT
Sergeant
402433
15 OTU
16/02/1942
20
Royal Australian Air Force
Australian
III. D. 10.
BONE WAR CEMETERY, ANNABA

 

15 September 1942.
53 Squadron.

P/O. Risbey (RAAF) was circling low over Edinburgh Field, Trinidad, in Hudson V. AM727/D trying to land in a rain storm when the aircraft struck a tree and crashed, Risbey, P/O J W P. Walker (RAAF), Sgt A M. Parkin, Sgt N F. Brassington and AMM3C WM. Boots (USN) were all killed.

 

28 September 1942.
53 Squadron.

Hudson V9105/K was lost on an air test on 28 September. The aircraft was found in the jungle three miles south of Rio Clara, Trinidad and had struck the ground in a vertical attitude. P/O A A. Mossis (RAAF), AMM3C G M. Nobes (USN), PFC J H. Fischer, PFC S L. Shipes and Pte Smith (USAAC) were all killed.

 

Thanks Peter,

Fantastic info. Couldn't move this project along without you guys.

Cheers

Geoff

 

Azores

Azores

JOHNSON, JAMES GEOFFREY
Pilot Officer
408252
220sq
4/12/1943
20
Royal Australian Air Force
Australian
Row A. Grave 6.
LAJES WAR CEMETERY
Azores
Terceira-Praia

RYAN, NEVILLE VINCENT
Warrant Officer
422812
220sq
8/03/1945
20
Royal Australian Air Force
Australian
Row B. Grave 10.
LAJES WAR CEMETERY
Azores
Terceira-Praia

 

Geoff,

I can't actually put Johnson on this aircraft, don't have a crew list, but the date matches, might give you a lead.

When the time came for a major service of 220 Squadrons Fortresses, every 800 hours, they were ferried to Thornaby. F/O. Desmond E. Morris lifted Fortress FK206 'K' off the planked runway at Lagens at 03:26 hrs in the early morning of 4 December 1943. Thirty seconds later the Fortress plunged into the Atlantic with the loss of all on board.
The official likely cause was loss of control following the change from visual flight to instruments on a very black night. The bodies of three crew members were recovered - two Canadians and one Australian - to be buried in the civil cemetery at Angra and later moved to the Lajes War Cemetery.

Extract from 'Unsung Sentinels' - R. Stitt.


Regards
Peter

 

Great sleuthing Peter. I don't think we would need to look further with the above info.

 

St Vincent.

CARTER, GEOFFREY JOHN HAMILTON
Sergeant
412229
45 TG RAF
12/04/1943

Third crew member was the Navigator Sgt Douglas William Perry RAF from Braintree, Essex who died from his injuries on April 13th 1943.
I live in St Vincent and operate an aircraft from an airfield about one mile from the place where Carter was killed. Having often seen his and Faulkners grave I have over time tried to piece together why their Baltimore FA314 came to crash on this distant small island. The Baltimore was being ferried from the USA to North Africa via the Southern Atlantic ferry route. It departed Nassau, Bahamas for Trinidad but seems to have experienced an engine failure and attempted a forced landing in a sugarcane field along the Atlantic coast of St Vincent. Accident records report they overshot and crashed. A very reliable witness years ago told me he watched them try to abort the landing and on applying power on the good engine crash into tall coconut trees alonside the beach. The aircraft caught fire and the crew lost their lives. My curiosity is the decision to land when there were airfields not too far away where an emergency landing could have been made. I suspect there may have been a fire on board that hastened the need to land. Only a suspicion but one witness very young at the time recalls seeing black smoke trailing and a local newspaper report may give a hint in that direction though censorship prevented them reporting too much.
Hope this is a help to you, if interested there is a photograph of the wreck online at:
A history of a local photographer, scroll down for the picture and newspaper report.

 

Hi Duncan,

Thank you very much for the information, I really appreciate it.

I collect photos of all the headstones of RAAF deaths during WW2 (11,037) as well.

Is there any chance that you know someone there who could provide some photos of the three headstones and some cemetery shots?


Cheers

Geoff

 

I will be back in St Vincent around the 25th of this month so will take them myself and post them here. Carter and Faulkner (Canada) are in the Georgetown Cemetery while Perry (UK) is in the Kingstown Cemetery. There are other war graves there but to my knowledge not Australian. They comprise U Boat victims from 1942, RN accidents (HMS Essiquibo)and West India Regiment deaths.
I spend a lot of time in Barbados where there is a very large military cemetery dating back to the early 1800's. If you know of any Australians lying there I would be happy to search for them and take photographs.

 

Hi Duncan,

Thank you very much for the offer of photo's. I do not have any RAAF lads in Barbados as the only other ones in the Caribbean are at PORT OF SPAIN (ST. JAMES) MILITARY CEMETERY in Trinidad who were with 53sq RAF. One died on 28/09/1942

and the other two on 15/09/1942

.

The number of "accidents" as a percentage of deaths was horrendous through the war. While not an exact figure for the RAAF, of 11,035 deaths that I have recorded, some 6,600? were classed as caused by flying battle or in action.

The EATS programme in Canada for example (Empire Air Training Scheme) claimed 147 RAAF lives of which nearly all were accidents in training or accidents landing in bad weather on return from operations.

Cheers

Geoff

 

Geoff
I was born and raised in Trinidad and in fact did my first solo flight at Edinburgh Field in Dec 68 (it was renamed Carlsen Field) which has since been dug up. If you do not as yet have pictures of the Trinidad headstones I can ask a good friend of mine to take them.
Regards
Duncan

 

Hi Duncan,

I do not have the photos there so I would be most appreciative if you could arrange for your friend to take them for me.

MORRIS, ALAN ARTHUR Pilot Officer 400280 53sq 28/09/1942 21 RAAF Eastern Portion. Grave 19. PORT OF SPAIN (ST. JAMES) MILITARY CEMETERY

RISBEY, GEOFFREY THOMAS Flying Officer 400834 53sq 15/09/1942 22 RAAF Eastern Portion. Grave 23. PORT OF SPAIN (ST. JAMES) MILITARY CEMETERY

WALKER, JACK WARING PAIX Flying Officer 401354 53sq 15/09/1942 23 RAAF Eastern Portion. Grave 22. PORT OF SPAIN (ST. JAMES) MILITARY CEMETERY


Cheers

Geoff