LEST WE FORGET
Squadron Leader Hedley Nevile FOWLER MC
From Australia serving in the Royal Air Force
Service No: 39457 (RAF)
Born: London, England, 8 June 1916
Enlisted in the RAF: Short Service Commission granted on 19 February 1937
Unit: Armament Test Squadron, Boscombe Down, Wiltshire
Awarded the Military Cross (MC), 14 December 1943
Died: Aircraft Accident: (Armament Test Squadron Typhoon aircraft JR307), Dorset, 26 March 1944, Aged 27 Years
Buried: Durrington Cemetery, Wiltshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Maxwell Thomas Bourne Fowler and of Florence Fowler (nee Ayers), of Mytten, Sussex
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Squadron Leader Fowler resided in South Australia 1920-1924 and 1933-1936 when he enlisted in the RAAF and shortly after transferred to the RAF.
While on patrol on 15 May 1941, Flying Officer Fowler baled of No. 615 Squadron RAF Hurricane aircraft P2622 while in combat with Me109 aircraft of JG53 in the Dinant-Ardennes area. He was taken prisoner but was one of the few to successfully escape from Colditz Castle on 9 September 1942. He returned to the UK via Switzerland, unoccupied France, Spain and arrived in Gibraltar on 25 March 1943.
On 26 March 1944, Squadron Fowler was killed on an air test while flying Hawker Typhoon JR307.
References:
Franks, Norman L R, Royal Air Force Fighter Command Losses of the Second World War, Volume 1 Operational Losses: Aircraft and Crews 1939-1941, Midland Publishing UK, 1997
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Newton, Dennis A Few of the Few: Australians and the Battle of Britain, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT 2600, 1990
Newton, Dennis First Impact, Banner Books, Maryborough QLD 4650, 1997
On-Line Sources
Roberts, Thomas V Wingless: a biographical index of Australian Airmen detained in wartime, Thomas V Roberts, Ballarat VIC 3350, 2011