LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant Kenneth David CLARSON
Service No: 405831
Born: Pialba QLD, 7 May 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 21 June 1941
Unit: No. 45 Group (RAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 45 Group Boston aircraft BZ549), Iceland, 7 November 1944, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Reykjavik (Fossvogur) Cemetery, Iceland
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Kenneth and Mary Elizabeth Clarson, of Sandgate, Queensland, Australia; husband of Therese Clarson, of St. Eustache sur le Lac, Province of Quebec, Canada.
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 120, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On a non-operational flight on 7 November 1944, Boston BZ549 on a North Atlantic delivery from Canada to the UK crashed at Reykjavik, Iceland. The aircraft approached too fast and did not touch down until well down the runway and overran and crashed. The Pilot was warned to touch down as near to the beginning of the runway as possible, but failed to carry out this instruction.
The crew members of BZ549 were:
Flight Lieutenant Kenneth David Clarson (405831) (Radio Navigator)
Flying Officer P R Maitland (J/36240) (RCAF) (Pilot) Injured
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, 166/7/727