LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Victor ABEL
Service No: 422089
Born: Tallinn, Estonia, 31 December 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 25 April 1942 (at Sydney NSW)
Unit: No. 82 Squadron (RAF), Kolar, India
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 82 Squadron Mosquito aircraft HP886), Mysor, India, 13 September 1944, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Madras War Cemetery, Chennai, India
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Fritz August Alexander and Julie Abel, of Neutral Bay, New South Wales. Australia.
Roll of Honour: Sydney NSW
Remembered: Panel 118, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Auburn RSL World War II Honour Roll, Auburn NSW
Remembered: Commonwealth Bank of Australia (Rural Bank of NSW) Honour Rolls, Sydney NSW
Mosquito HP886 was detailed on 13th September 1944 to carry out practicing attacks on another aircraft at a height of 5,000 feet. After one attack HP886 disappeared under the target aircraft, possibly being thrown upside down by the slipstream. There was no evidence as to what happened after that. HP 886 crashed at 13.38N 78.06E in the province of Mysor and the both crew members were killed.
The crew members of HP886 were:
Pilot Officer Victor Abel (422089) (Navigator)
Flying Officer William Clarke Tufnell (415700) (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 A9300, ABEL V
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line