LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Ronald George Lawry HOLTON
Service No: 401588
Born: Coburg VIC, 29 January 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 1 March 1941
Unit: No. 148 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 148 Squadron Wellington aircraft HX527), North Africa, 31 July 1942, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Francis George and Elizabeth Grace Holton, of Preston, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Preston VIC
Remembered: Column 266, Alamein Memorial, Egypt
Remembered: Panel 124, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2133 hours on 31 July 1942 Wellington HX527 took off for night bombing operations on harbour installations at Tobruk. No further message was received from the aircraft or any information about the crew. It was presumed that the aircraft and crew members were lost at sea.
The crew members of HX527 were:
Flying Officer William Dennis Bohl (404679) (Pilot)
Sergeant Ronald George Lawry Holton (401588) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Sergeant John William Southgate (1500043) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Pilot Officer Raymond Ernest Vaupel (J/7436) (RCAF) (Second Pilot)
Sergeant Roy Vernon (641582) (RAF) (Rear Gunner)
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, 163/123/295