LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Ronald James FINCH
Service No: 405176
Born: Brisbane QLD, 10 May 1913
Enlisted in the RAAF: 2 February 1941
Unit: No. 10 Operational Training Unit (RAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 10 Operational Training Unit Whitley aircraft AD706), Abingdon, 17 April 1942, Aged 28 Years
Buried: Brookwood Military Cemetery, Surrey UK
CWGC Additional Information: Son of James and Elizabeth Finch, of Condong, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Casino NSW
Remembered: Panel 122, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 16 April 1942 Whitley AD706 took off from RAF Station Abingdon detailed to carry out a night navigation training exercise. The crew returned safely to base but were obliged to overshoot the runway and re-enter the circuit. While doing so the aircraft stalled at 150 feet and before control could be regained, the aircraft hit the ground with such force that it bounced high into the air, and crashed at 0208 hours bursting into flames. All the crew members were killed.
The crew members of AD706 were:
Flying Officer Ronald James Finch (405176) (Pilot)
Sergeant Douglas John Hayden Mott (901709) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Terence Ernest Albert O’Coy (1264157) (RAFVR)
Sergeant George Penman (1309950) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Cyril Joseph Scattergood (1185940) (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 Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/32/99