LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Francis Herbert CRIDLAND
Service No: 413534
Born: Daceyville NSW, 29 May 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 12 September 1941
Unit: No. 31 Squadron, Coomalie Creek NT
Died: Air Operations (No. 31 Squadron Beaufighter aircraft A19-17) Celebes, 19 October 1943, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Leslie Richard and Florence Ann Cridland; husband of Bonnie Beveridge Cridland, of Roseville, New South Wales, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Column 8, Ambon Memorial, Indonesia
Remembered: Panel 102, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Flying Officer Francis Herbert Cridland (413534), Pilot, and Pilot Officer Raymond Baudoin De Pierres (415861), Navigator, were shot down and killed by anti-aircraft fire while flying near Trangan in the Aru Islands on 19 October 1943.
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 A9845, 241
Bibliography:
Parnell, N.M. (Neville M.) Whispering Death: A history of the RAAF’s Beaufighter Squadrons, AH & AW Reed Terry Hills NSW, 1980
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Beaufort, Beaufighter and Mosquito in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1990