LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Ronald Arthur HATFIELD
Service No: 409542
Born: Melbourne VIC, 6 May 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 12 September 1941
Unit: No. 27 Operational Training Unit (RAF), RAF Lichfield, Staffordshire
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 27 Operational Training Unit Wellington aircraft BK843), North Sea, 14 June 1943, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Arthur Henry and Daisy Elma Hatfield, of Woorinen, Victoria. Australia.
Roll of Honour: Swan Hill VIC
Remembered: Panel 192, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 123, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Wellington BK843 of No 27 Operational Training took off from RAF Station Lichfield at about 1350 hours on 14 June 1943 to carry out a non operational flight over the North Sea. The route was Lichfield – Attenborough – 55.00N 00.00E – Drem – Alconbury – Cannock – Return to base. At 1630 hours a first class fix of 281 deg was obtained, but thereafter nothing was heard from the aircraft and it failed to return to base. Following post war enquiries and investigations, it was recorded in 1949 that the missing crew had lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of BK843 were:
Flight Sergeant Theodore Albert Belot (408382) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Sergeant Patrick Leslie Cashion (420141) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Ronald Arthur Hatfield (409542) (Observer)
Flight Sergeant Edmund Geoffrey Holden (406977) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Leonard Howell MacDonald (409162) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
No. 27 Operational Training Unit lost Wellington BJ 672 (Flight Sergeant William David Weir (15851) (Pilot)) on 14 June 1943.
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 A705, 166/17/182