LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant David Sneddon MITCHELL
Service No: 29132
Born: Shettleston Scotland, 18 May 1916
Enlisted in the RAAF: 22 October 1940 (at Perth WA)
Unit: No. 578 Squadron (RAF), RAF Burn, Yorkshire
Died: Air Operations (No. 578 Squadron Halifax aircraft MX592), France, 13 June 1944, Aged 28 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Mr. and Mrs. David Mitchell; husband of Mary Grace Alice Mitchell, of Oakleigh, Victoria, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Melbourne VIC
Remembered: Panel 261, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 127, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
Halifax MX592 of 578 Squadron took off from RAF Station Burn at 2338 hours on 12 June 1944, to attack a target at Amiens, France. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. Following post war enquiries and investigations, it was established that the aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire and crashed at Mailly Raineval (Somme), 5 miles south west of Moreuil. Two crew members are buried in the Parish cemetery at Mailly Raineval, but no trace of the remaining 5 crew members could be found.
The crew members of MX592 were:
Sergeant Dennis Askwith (1682446) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant William Norman Currums (1685011) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant John Bryant De Burgh Griffith (429375) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant James Charles Hocking (1377231) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator)
Flight David Sneddon Mitchell (29132) (Rear Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Phillip Rollo Aloysius Robin (423896) (Navigator)
Flying Officer Robert Fussell Wilden (142148) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
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, 166/27/463