LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Francis Charles KEARNEY
Service No: 405808
Born: Brisbane QLD, 19 January 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 20 July 1941
Unit: No. 3 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit (RAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 3 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit Wellington aircraft Z8708), off Skegness, Lincolnshire, 19 December 1942, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Laurence Henry and Doris Barbara Kearney, of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Brisbane QLD
Remembered: Panel 112, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 125, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2325 hours on 19 December 1942 Wellington Z8708 crashed in the sea off Skegness, Lincolnshire. All the crew members were killed and two bodies later washed ashore.
The crew members of Z8708 were:
Flying Officer Frederick Harold Angell (412784) (RNZAF) (Pilot)
Sergeant Sydney Roy Barling (412357) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Reginald Hudson Bedell (J/20549) (RCAF) (Observer)
Sergeant Alexander Moreton Giles (656353) (RAF)
Sergeant Francis Charles Kearney (405808) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Sergeant Sydney Clarence Reardon (405770) (Wireless Operator Air 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 A163/132/283