LEST WE FORGET
Second Lieutenant Harold Strachan KITSON
Service No: 302
Born: Moonee Ponds VIC, November 1894
Enlisted in the Army: 5 October 1916
Unit: No. 3 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps
Died: Injuries from an Aircraft Accident, Lincolnshire, 15 June 1917, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Newport Cemetery, Lincoln, Lincolnshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of James and Annie Kitson, of 30, Studley Avenue, Kew, Melbourne, Australia
Place of Association: Kew VIC
Remembered: Panel 188, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
The second fatal casualty among the original personnel of the Squadron occurred on 17th June, 1917, when Second Lieutenant H. F. Kitson, in a Sopwith Pup aircraft (1), spun into the ground on South Carlton aerodrome. After graduating as a pilot, Second Lieutenant Kitson had been sent to No. 45 Training Squadron, Royal Flying Corps, for training on scout aircraft, and it was while still posted to that squadron that he met his death.
(1) Sopwith Scout aircraft B1734 (as shown on Casualty Card)
Extract from Wrigley, H.N. (Henry Neilsen) (6) The Battle Below: Being the history of No. 3 Squadron AFC, Errol G. Knox Sydney NSW, 1935 – Page 26
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record B2455, KITSON HAROLD STRACHAN
National Archives UK RAF Casualty Card 276697, 159904
Bibliography:
Muller, P. (Peter) and Hutchinson, J. (John) Secrets Revealed: a brief history of No. 3 Squadron RAAF, Lutheran Publishing House Adelaide SA 5000, 1991
Wrigley, H.N. (Henry Neilsen) (6) The Battle Below: Being the history of No. 3 Squadron AFC, Errol G. Knox Sydney NSW, 1935