LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Philip Wesley HART
Service No: 416570
Born: Clarendon SA, 1 March 1915
Enlisted in the RAAF: 21 July 1941
Unit: No. 132 Operational Training Unit (RAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 132 Operational Training Unit Beaufighter aircraft JL449), Scotland, 27 February 1944, Aged 28 Years
Buried: Haddington (St Martin’s) New Burial Ground, East Lothian
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Arthur Philip Clarendon Hart and Emily Grace Hart, of Unley Park, South Australia. B.E., F.S.A.S.M.
Roll of Honour: Unley SA
Remembered: Panel 123, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
During a training exercise on 27 February 1944, Beaufighter JL449 crashed at 1442 hours at East Fortune airfield which is about 30 kms east north east of Edinburgh. The aircraft was attempting to land in bad visibility in a snow storm.
The crew members of JL449 were:
Flying Officer John Webster Christie (152687) (RAFVR) (Navigator W)
Flying Officer Philip Wesley Hart (416570) (Pilot)
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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A9300, HART P W