LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Douglas Gordon JACK
Service No: 404248
Born: Lismore NSW, 22 January 1916
Enlisted in the RAAF: 19 July 1940 (at Brisbane QLD)
Unit: No. 102 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Dalton
Died: Air Operations: (No. 102 Squadron Whitley aircraft Z6973), off the French Coast, 16 December 1941, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William Harris Watson Jack and Roberta Julia Jack; husband of Olive Mary Jack, of Roadville, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Brisbane QLD
Remembered: Panel 62, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 124, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1643 hours on 16 December 1941 Whitley Z6973 took off from Dalton to attack docks and shipping at Dunkirk, France. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. It was presumed that the aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire and had crashed into the sea. Following post war enquiries and investigations when no trace of the missing aircraft or crew could be found, it was recorded that the missing crew members had lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of Z6973 were:
Sergeant Frederick Edward Baldock (1163598) (RAFVR)
Flight Sergeant Wilson Gilmore Caldwell (R/68575) (RCAF) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Walter Arthur Evans (R/78195) (RCAF)
Sergeant Douglas Gordon Jack (404248) (Pilot)
Sergeant George Edward Thompson (637531) (RAFVR)
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, 163/126/73