LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Ronald Edward Robert FOUNTAIN
Service No: 421195
Born: Rylstone NSW, 27 October 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 31 January 1942
Unit: No. 3 Squadron
Died: Air Operations: (No. 3 Squadron Mustang aircraft KH360), Adriatic Sea, 6 December 1944, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Albert Edward and Ivy Jane Fountain, of Bondi Beach, New South Wales, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 16, Column 1, Malta Memorial, Malta
Remembered: Panel 98, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 6 December 1944, Mustang KH360 flown by Pilot Officer Fountain was returning with 10 other aircraft from an armed reconnaissance mission to Yugoslavia. The formation was flying between two layers of 10/10ths cloud at 16,000 feet over the Adriatic Sea. The two layers of cloud merged and a descent through the cloud was unavoidable. KH360 was last contacted before entering the cloud and the radio was serviceable. Nothing further was heard from the aircraft and it failed to break cloud. It was concluded that Pilot Officer Fountain while flying on instruments may have lost control in cloud and could not correct in time after breaking cloud and before striking the sea.
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, 166/14/272