LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Neville James COSTIN
Service No: 426545
Born: Goondiwindi QLD, 21 August 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 18 July 1942
Unit: No. 48 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Down Ampney, Gloucestershire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 48 Squadron Dakota aircraft KG592), North West Europe, 18 September 1944, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Benjamin Green Costin and Susanna Costin, of Southport, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Southport QLD
Remembered: Panel 258, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 120, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Dakota KG592 and its crew were reported missing on transportation duties in Western Europe on 18 September 1944. The aircraft was last reported by Headquarters No. 46 Group to be at B58 Landing Ground in Belgium on 18 September 1944, with a damaged tail wheel. It is assumed that the aircraft took off again from B58 without booking or warning the responsible authorities, and that some kind of accident occurred on the return flight. No messages were received from the aircraft.
The crew members of KG592 were:
Pilot Officer Neville James Costin (426545) (Second Pilot – Navigator B)
Flying Officer Gordon James McKenzie (20286) (RCAF) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Flying Officer Albert Joseph Arthur Lavoie (J/36693) (RCAF) (Wireless Operator – Air)
Pilot Officer Vernon Lawrence Pearson (J/87426) (RCAF) (Pilot)
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, 166/8/669