LEST WE FORGET
Squadron Leader Cyril Henry Arthur COLMAN
From Australia serving in the Royal Air Force
Commanding Officer, No. 23 Squadron RAF, 1940-1
Service No: 24058 (RAF) 716 (RAAF)
Born: Brimley, Kent, 8 January 1905
Enlisted in the RAAF: 1926
Enlisted in the RAF: 1927
Unit: No. 23 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Ford
Died: Air Operations: (No. 23 Squadron Blenheim aircraft L6781), off the English Coast, 4 January 1941, Aged 35 Years
Buried: Tangemere (St Andrew) Churchyard, Sussex
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Montague Arthur and Louisa Beatrice Colman; husband of Evelyn Violet (Valerie) Colman, of Truro, Cornwall
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel Supplementary 12, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Squadron Leader Colman completed flying training at No. 1 Flying Training School, RAAF Station Point Cook, Victoria, in October 1926 and was one of seven RAAF officers who then proceeded to serve with the RAF on a five-year short service commission to gain flying experience, embarking for the UK on 27 November 1926. He then transferred to the RAF on a permanent commission.
On 3 January 1941, Blenheim L6781 failed to return from an intruder sortie and crashed off the English Coast.
The crew members of L6781were:
Squadron Leader Cyril Henry Arthur Colman (24058) (RAF) (Pilot)
Sergeant Harry Ian MacRory (RAF) (801456) (RAF (Auxiliary Air Force))
Flight Sergeant David William Mathews (561312) (RAF)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Bennett, J. (John William) The Imperial Gift: British aeroplanes which formed the RAAF in 1921, Banner Books Maryborough QLD 4650, 1996
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Franks, Norman L R, Royal Air Force Fighter Command Losses of the Second World War, Volume 1 Operational Losses: Aircraft and Crews 1939-1941, Midland Publishing UK, 1997
Newton, Dennis A Few of the Few: Australians and the Battle of Britain, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT 2600, 1990
Newton, Dennis First Impact, Banner Books, Maryborough QLD 4650, 1997