LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Reginald Wilton DURDIN
Service No: 407201
Born: North Adelaide SA, 9 December 1913
Enlisted in the RAAF: 20 July 1940
Unit: No. 25 Operational Training Unit (RAF), RAF Finningley, Yorkshire
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 25 Operational Training Unit Wellington aircraft N2783), Yorkshire, 9 November 1941, Aged 27 Years
Buried: Finningley (Holy Trinity and St Oswald) Churchyard Extension, Nottinghamshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William Reginald and Elizabeth Eleanor Durdin; husband of Betty Mavis Durdin, of Lameroo, South Australia.
Roll of Honour: Lameroo SA
Remembered: Panel 121, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
On the 9th November 1941, Wellington N2783 took off from RAF Finningley, detailed to carry out a night training exercise. Due to an incorrectly set altimeter, the aircraft crashed at 2115 hours near Rossington, four miles south east of Doncaster.
The crew members of N2783 were:
Sergeant A J Coe (404530) (RNZAF) Injured, burns to hands
Sergeant Reginald Wilton Durdin (407201) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Willie Holden (992165) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Henry Clifford Howard (400471) (Pilot)
Sergeant Clifford William Musto (406149) (Air Gunner) Facial Injuries: Killed on Air Operations, 11 August 1942
Sergeant Frank Morton Oddy (1308648) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/104/81