LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Richard Hasting NITSCHKE
Service No: 407181
Born: Adelaide SA, 18 July 1915
Enlisted in the RAAF: 20 July 1940
Unit: No. 250 Squadron (RAF), Gazala No. 3 Landing Ground, Libya
Died: Air Operations (No. 250 Squadron Tomahawk aircraft CC452), Libya, 21 December 1941, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: No additional information
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Column 245, Alamein Memorial, Egypt
Remembered: Panel 128, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
Tomahawk CC452 of No. 250 Squadron flown by Pilot Officer Nitschke was last seen engaged by enemy aircraft in the Benghazi area on the morning of 21 December 1941. The aircraft did not return to base and it was assumed that it had been shot down. Following post war investigations and enquiries, it was recorded in 1948 that Pilot Officer Nitschke had no known grave.
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, 163/147/160
Bibliography:
Brown, R. (Russell) Desert Warriors Australian P-40 Pilots at War in the Middle East and North Africa 1941-1943, Banner Books Maryborough QLD 4650, 2000
Ilbery, P.L.T. (Peter Leslie Thomas) (422957) Hatching an Air Force: 2SFTS, 5SFTS, 1BFTS Uranquinty and Wagga Wagga, Banner Books Maryborough QLD 4650, 2002