LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant David Lindsay FARNDELL
Service No: 417169
Born: Rose Park SA, 13 July 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 31 January 1942
Unit: No. 1693 General Reconnaissance Flight, RAF Station Wick, Highland
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 1693 Flight Anson aircraft MG510), Scotland, 1 December 1943, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Samuel Joseph and Eliza Mabel Farndell, of Hawthorn, South Australia
Roll of Honour: Mitcham SA
Remembered: Panel 192, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 122, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
On 1 December 1943 Anson MG510 was doing low level bombing practice on a target in Sinclair Bay, Scotland, and after dropping the practice bomb from a height of 50 feet, the aircraft was seen to pull up to about 200 feet, and attempt to turn back onto the target. A high G stall occurred on the turn, and the aircraft crashed into the sea. The area was searched by ASR launches and a Walrus aircraft but apart from aircraft wreckage, no survivors were found. In 1949 it was recorded that the missing crew had lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of MG510 were:
Flying Officer Laurence Edward Charnaud (J/13728) (RCAF) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant David Lindsay Farndell (417169) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Technical Sergeant F G L Stillwell (USAAF) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Warrant Officer II Andrew Wilson (R/128841) (RCAF) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Warrant Officer II Bernard John Yard (R/128725) (RCAF) (Wireless Operator 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, 166/13/155