LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Finley Ewart Munro CRAWFORD
Service No: 422841
Born: Waverley NSW, 21 February 1924
Enlisted in the RAAF: 26 May 1942
Unit: No. 70 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations (No. 70 Squadron Wellington aircraft LP228), Hungary, 26 June 1944, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Budapest War Cemetery, Hungary
CWGC Additional Information: Son of James Cameron and Rosalie Recordia Crawford, of Summer Hill, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Sydney NSW
Remembered: Panel 120, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On the night of 25/26 June 1944 Wellington LP228 was detailed to carry out a raid on Budapest. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. It was later established that the aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire and crashed at Dunaharaszti, which is approximately 12 miles south of Budapest and all the crew members had been killed.
The crew members of LP228 were:
Flight Sergeant Finley Ewart Munro Crawford (422841) (Air Gunner)
Warrant Officer Kevin James Hiskins (410233) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Roy David McAlister Howden (418841) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Sidney Raymond Lewis (1177650) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Warrant Officer George Alexander Williams (1056191) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air)
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, 166/8/522