LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Walter Douglas FAWCETT
Service No: 427861
Born: Warracknabeal VIC, 2 August 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 7 October 1942 (at Perth WA)
Unit: No. 1660 Conversion Unit (RAF), RAF Swinderby, Lincolnshire
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 1660 Conversion Unit Stirling aircraft EF200), Nottinghamshire, 30 August 1944, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Oxford (Botley) Cemetery, Oxfordshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of George and Emmie Fawcett, of Clunes, Victoria, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Clunes VIC
Remembered: Panel 122, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
On the 30 August 1944, Stirling EF200 took off from RAF Swinderby for a cross country training flight. While cruising at 12,000 feet the outer port engine failed, and the crew turned back for base. Their first approach was unsatisfactory but while going round again the Pilot lost control and the aircraft crashed at 1532 hours, slightly north of Hardwick Grange, Nottinghamshire. Five of the crew were killed and three were injured. RAF Gamston flying control reported that the aircraft had approached their runway, wheels down, firing red cartridges and flying on three engines with the port outer feathered. The aircraft was not in line with the runway and started to go round again at a very low height. It appeared the Pilot was attempting a right hand circuit, lost height and crashed.
The crew members of EF200 were:
Pilot Officer John Leslie Bairstow (427632) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Walter Douglas Fawcett (427861) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Ivor Hawkins Jones (429230) (Navigator)
Sergeant W Mills (1809441) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner) Injured
Flight Sergeant Austin Dudley O’Hara (429619) (Air Bomber) Seriously Injured, Discharged from the RAAF: 13 July 1945
Flight Sergeant Edgar Smith (1684698) (RAFVR) (Staff Flight Engineer)
Sergeant W Toole (2205344) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner) Seriously Injured
Sergeant Frederick John Ward (1800885) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
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, 166/13/297