LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Reuben Henry BATES-BROWNSWORD
Service No: 416241
Born: Adelaide SA, 12 September 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 28 April 1941
Unit: No. 1 Operational Training Unit, Bairnsdale VIC
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 1 Operational Training Unit Beaufort aircraft A9-155), Bairnsdale, 1 February 1943, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Bairnsdale War Cemetery, VIC
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Harold and Doris Bates-Brownsword, of Blackwood, South Australia.
Roll of Honour: Adelaide SA
Remembered: Panel 112, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
On 1 February 1943, Beaufort A9-155 crashed after take-off at Bairnsdale. The cause of the crash is recorded as obscure.
The crew members of A9-155 were:
Sergeant Reuben Henry Bates-Brownsword (416241) (Observer)
Sergeant Gordon Clyde Lloyd (412984) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Thomas Henry Straker (412041) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant William Holden White (406892) (Pilot)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A9845, 246