LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant David Geoffrey EVANS
Service No: 409398
Born: Yarraville VIC, 2 February 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 15 August 1941
Unit: No. 90 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station West Wickham
Died: Air Operations: (No. 90 Squadron Stirling aircraft EE904), North Sea, 26 July 1943, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Edward Dunau Evans and Florence Emily Evans, of Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Camberwell VIC
Remembered: Panel 192, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 121, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2237 hours on 25 July 1943 Stirling EE904 took off from West Wickham attack Essen, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. The aircraft crashed in the sea in the Yarmouth area. Seven airmen’s bodies were recovered by Naval Authorities 15 miles off the coast near Yarmouth. Three were from EE904 and the other four were from No. 102 Squadron (RAF) Halifax aircraft JD169. It was reported that it was possible that the two aircraft had collided, but it is not known whether EE904 was lost on the outward or return journey from its assigned mission. The remaining missing crew members from both aircraft were recorded as having lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of EE904 were:
Flight Sergeant James Ferguson Bowman (413248) (RNZAF) (Rear Gunner)
Flying Officer Patrick Hector Conroy (141019) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Pilot Officer Henry Alington Disbrowe (134568) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Squadron Leader Joseph Dugdale DFC (39071) (RAF) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant David Geoffrey Evans (409398) (Second Pilot)
Sergeant Desmond Frank Augustus Hobbs (574609) (RAF) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant James Hamilton Keeley (412341) (RNZAF) (Wireless Operator)
Sergeant Norman Albert Young (1238951) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper 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 Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/12/29