LEST WE FORGET
Warrant Officer Dudley Royce RAYNER
Service No: 416702
Born: Mt Pleasant SA, 12 June 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 16 August 1941
Unit: No. 177 Squadron (RAF), Feni, Bangladesh
Died: Air Operations (No. 177 Squadron Beaufighter aircraft EL505), Myanmar, 23 February 1944, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Walter Russell Rayner and Ethel Winifred Rayner, of Springton, South Australia.
Roll of Honour: Mt Pleasant SA
Remembered: Column 443, Singapore Memorial, Singapore
Remembered: Panel 129, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
On 23 February 1944, Beaufighter EL505 of No. 177 Squadron took off at 0750 hours together with three other squadron aircraft to attack oil installations in Burma, as well as attack Japanese road and rail communications in Central Burma. EL 505 was last seen at 0930 hours during an attack by the whole formation on an oil pipe line at Kanhla, Burma in position 19.35N 95.11E. The aircraft was seen to draw away and is thought to have carried out an individual attack upon objectives which had been noticed. At this time, two other aircraft were compelled to take violent evading action against anti-aircraft fire from the ground. . EL 505 was not seen again and it did not
return to base after the mission. After post war searches and enquiries, it was recorded in 1949 that the missing crew had no known grave.
The crew members of EL505 were:
Warrant Officer Dudley Royce Rayner (416702) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Gerald Albert Dinham (1337887) (RAFVR) (Navigator Wireless)
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, 166/35/227