LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Douglas Clarke GIBSON
Service No: 402946
Born: Ararat VIC, 3 September 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 11 November 1940 (at Sydney NSW)
Unit: No. 227 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 227 Squadron Beaufighter aircraft T4933), Eastern Mediterranean, 15 June 1942, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Simeon George and Caroline Gibson, of Grafton, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Grafton NSW
Remembered: Column 264, Alamein Memorial, Egypt
Remembered: Panel 122, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Brother of Flight Sergeant James Geoffrey Gibson (420465)
At 0715 hours on 15 June 1942 Beaufighter T4933 left Base as a fighter escort to a convoy on the way to Crete, but did not return to base from the mission. It is presumed the aircraft came down in the sea somewhere west of Crete. Whether this was due to enemy action or not is not known. Searches made for the aircraft and crew were unsuccessful, with the crew members being recorded as lost at sea.
The crew members of T4933 were:
Flying Officer Douglas Clarke Gibson (402946) (Pilot)
Sergeant Alfred Robert Sparey (915316) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator/Observer)
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, 163/34/197