LEST WE FORGET
Warrant Officer Frederick Walter HANDLEY
Service No: 401375
Born: Melbourne VIC, 21 June 1914
Enlisted in the RAAF: 2 February 1941
Unit: No. 353 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 353 Squadron Dakota aircraft FZ597), India, 4 August 1944, Aged 30 Years
Buried: Ranchi War Cemetery, India
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Walter and Amy Beatrice Handley, of East Malvern, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 123, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On the 4 August 1944, Dakota FZ597 dived into the ground during a heavy storm and all on board were killed. The aircraft crashed in position 26.15N 083.44E.
The crew members of FZ597 were:
Pilot Officer John Beebar (403252) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer David Crawford Forman AFC (400366) (Pilot)
Warrant Officer Frederick Walter Handley (401375) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Sergeant Kenneth Martyn Anthony Sexton (1402643) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
The passengers were:
Flying Officer Frederick William Cawthorne (175610) (RAFVR) No. 194 Squadron RAF
Sergeant Charles Edward Church (1426432) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer) No. 353 Squadron RAF
Nurse Diana Stewart Crofton (292) Auxiliary Nursing Service, India
Lieutenant Colonel Paul Evan Rodgers Dawson (43463) (British Army) Royal Artillery
Mr Seth Drucquer* (Bengal Government)
Major Ernest Hicks (EC/16), Deputy Director Vehicles, Calcutta, Indian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
Flight Lieutenant Frederick Grant Jackson (J/6209) (RCAF) RAF No. 273 Squadron RAF
Major Gerald Francis Keen (199543) (British Army) General List, PR Film Unit
Aircraftman Class I William John Lewis (1522390) (RAFVR) (FMA) No. 353 Squadron
Lieutenant Colonel Edward Ronald Pettit (44155) (British Army) Royal Armoured Corps
Flight Sergeant Kenneth Martyn Anthony Sexton (1402643) No. 353 Squadron RAF
Aircraftman Class I Oliver Taylor (1480296) (RAFVR) No. 353 Squadron RAF
Major Thomas Atkinson Walton (58986)) (British Army) Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby Regiment)
Lieutenant Colonel Robert Frank Courtney Weallens (33375) (British Army) Royal Engineers
Flight Sergeant Stanley Wilson (544707) (RAF) No. 353 Squadron RAF
* Not shown on the CWGC record.
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, 166/17/695