LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Reginald Stanley BRANDON
Service No: 403416
Born: Hill End NSW, 22 February 1914
Enlisted in the RAAF: 6 January 1941
Unit: No. 459 Squadron, Landing Ground 226, Egypt
Died: Air Operations (No. 459 Squadron Hudson aircraft FH 294), Mediterranean, 13 August 1942, Aged 28 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Frank Oswald Richmond Brandon and Kathleen Mary Brandon, of Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Byron Bay NSW
Remembered: Column 265, Alamein Memorial, Egypt
Remembered: Panel 106, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Byron Bay War Memorial Gates and Memorial Park Sports Fields, Byron Bay NSW
Hudsons V8994 and FH 294 were tasked on a pre-dawn shipping strike to attack “F” boats and V8994 (Sergeant Bryan Rostron (RAF) (Pilot)) successfully attacked one in position 32.06N 025.09E. Hudson FH 294 failed to return and the cause of the loss of this aircraft is unknown.
The crew members of FH 294 were:
Flight Sergeant Reginald Brandon (403416) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Walter Richard Samuel Cornish (404472) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant William Norris Smith (402410) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant William Edmund Somerville (402618) (Wireless Air Gunner)
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 A9816, 145 (No. 459 Squadron Unit History)
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line
Bibliography:
Kane-Maguire L. (Leon) Desert Scorpions: 459 Squadron RAAF 1942-1945, Australian Military History Publications Loftus NSW 2232, 2007
Vincent, D. (David) The RAAF Hudson Story Book 1, D. Vincent Highbury SA 5089, 1989