LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Paul John BLUMER
Service No: 402027
Born: Glebe Point NSW, 4 May 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 28 April 1940
Unit: No. 355 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 355 Squadron Liberator aircraft 42-73162), India, 4 May 1944, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Madras War Cemetery, Chennai, India
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Paul Wilfrid and Nancy Lillian Blumer, of Griffith, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Griffith NSW
Remembered: Panel 119, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Griffith Cenotaph, Griffith NSW
On 4 May 1944, Liberator 42-73162, an American Liberator loaned to the Advanced Flying Training Unit and in the act of being delivered, crashed at RAF Station Amarda Road (Rasgovindpur) when it collided in the air with a Harvard and crashed in flames. The Liberator was in the air about 80 feet from the ground and was landing. The Harvard was slightly damaged in the collision and neither pilot was injured. The Liberator was totally destroyed with four crew members killed and two injured.
The crew members of 42-73162 were:
Pilot Officer Paul John Blumer (402027) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Corporal E C Jasiekie* (USAAF) (Supernumerary)
Warrant Officer Ronald William Mitchell (416704) (Pilot) Slightly injured, Discharged from the RAAF: 29 August 1945
Master Sergeant R V Mosley* (USAAF) (Supernumerary)
Flight Sergeant Leslie Charles Simmons (925653) (RAFVR) (Second Pilot)
Sergeant F Williams (1818862) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer) Seriously Injured
The crew members of Harvard FE667 were:
Lieutenant John Robert Asher (USAAF) (Pilot under instruction) Uninjured
Flying Officer Cecil Halliday Fox (RNZAF) (Pilot) Uninjured
* These names have taken from the Court of Enquiry Report but these members are unable to be further identified.
A report into the accident he Group Commander Air Officer Commanding No. 231 Group stated: “Flying Officer Fox cannot be excused from all blame for this accident. I consider he was to some extent careless and made his approach in a somewhat unorthodox manner. I have ordered that his log book be marked in red “careless”. Warrant Officer Mitchell: I do not consider that any disciplinary action be taken against Warrant Officer Mitchell. Sergeant Evans the Flying Controller: I consider Evans to blame in that he did not keep a close watch on the Harvard after giving it the Red Light. I consider he was largely to blame for the accident, and that be brought before his CO, and be warned very seriously as to his duties while acting as Flying Controller in the future.”
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, 32/4/145
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line