LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant John Percival GARRARD MID
Service No: 410653
Born: Caulfield VIC, 3 November 1912
Enlisted in the RAAF: 31 January 1942
Unit: No. 201 Squadron (RAF)
Awarded the Mentioned in Despatches (MID)
Died: Aircraft Accident: (No. 201 Squadron Sunderland aircraft ML743), Eire, 14 March 1945, Aged 32 Years
Buried: Irvingstown Church of Ireland Churchyard, County Fermanagh
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Richard and Elizabeth Garrard; husband of Dorothy Mabel Garrard, of Fairfield, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Mordialloc VIC
Remembered: Panel 122, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 14 March 1945 Sunderland ML743 was proceeding on an anti-submarine patrol via the corridor from Castle Archdale to Donegal Bay. Half an hour after take-off, it flew into high ground, crashed and burned, 5 miles north west of Killybegs, County Donegal, Eire. The aircraft was destroyed and all twelve crew members were killed.
The crew members of ML743 were:
Pilot Officer Robert Douglas Albert Becker (J/94373) (RCAF) (Second Pilot)
Flying Officer Edward Norman Cave (174865) (RAFVR) (First Wireless Operator)
Flight Sergeant Norman Davison (1091488) (RAFVR) (Second Wireless Operator)
Flight Sergeant Frederick Nickolas George Ford (1587824) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Stanley Bernard Frith (1622351) (RAFVR) (Third Pilot)
Flight Lieutenant John Percival Garrard MID (410653) (Navigator)
Flight Lieutenant Denis Ralph Hatton MID (129070) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Flight Lieutenant Vivian Howkins (52705) (RAF) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant George Reginald Kennedy (1257641) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant James McAvoy (1569940) (RAFVR) (Flight Mechanic Engines/Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant James George Robinson (1580143) (RAFVR) (WO Mechanic Airframe)
Flight Sergeant David John Thomas Twist (1233231) (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 Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/15/440