LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant John Arthur AHERN
Service No: 400909
Born: Northcote VIC, 31 May 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 11 November 1940
Unit: No. 70 Operational Training Unit (RAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 70 Operational Training Unit Blenheim aircraft V6245), Kenya, 23 April 1942, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Gilgil War Cemetery, Kenya
CWGC Additional Information: Son of James Albert George and Olive Hilda Ford Ahern, of Thornbury, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Northcote VIC
Remembered: Panel 118, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On the 23 April 1942, Blenheim V6245 was detailed to carry out a daytime non-operational cross-country exercise. The aircraft crashed 28 miles north east of Naivasha, Kenya, and the crew of three was killed. The first leg of the exercise was over the southern end of the Aberdare Mountains at a point where they are over 10,000 feet high. The aircraft crashed at a height of 9,000 feet and on a direct line of the first leg. Apparently the pilot came down to try and locate his position when flying in extremely bad weather. In doing so the aircraft struck tall trees causing the aircraft to nose over and strike the ground almost vertically. The petrol tanks exploded and the aircraft was wrecked. The Pilot had been briefed to avoid flying through rainstorms.
The crew members of V6245 were:
Sergeant John Arthur Ahern (400909) (Observer)
Sergeant Ronald Giles Daniel (400970) (Pilot)
Sergeant Norman George Peters (404597) (Wireless Air Gunner)
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 Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/86/7