LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Robert Sutton NEIGHBOUR
Service No: 416450
Born: Kingscote SA, 26 January 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 23 June 1941
Unit: No. 227 Squadron (RAF), Limassol, Cyprus
Died: Air Operations (No. 227 Squadron Beaufighter aircraft JL640), Rhodes, 21 September 1943, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Rhodes War Cemetery, Rhodes, Greece
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William James Neighbour and Ruby Neighbour, of Kangaroo Island, South Australia; husband of Betty Kathleen Neighbour, of Kilkenny, South Australia
Roll of Honour: Woodville SA
Remembered: Panel 127, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
On 21 September 1943 Beaufighter JL640 took off with 10 other Beaufighters to attack Maritza aerodrome on the Island of Rhodes in the Aegean Sea. The attack was carried out independently, and JL 640 was shot down by enemy aircraft over Maritza and crashed at Peragno Central. A search of the area the next day found no trace of the missing aircraft or crew.
The crew members of JL640 were:
Flight Sergeant Robert Sutton Neighbour (416450) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Christopher George Hoskin (401124) (Navigator BW)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/29/52