LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Eric John LAYH
Service No: 404788
Born: Gunnedah NSW, 11 April 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 8 November 1940 (at Brisbane QLD)
Unit: No 23 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 23 Squadron Mosquito aircraft HJ832), Central Mediterranean, 10 December 1943, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Carl Eric and Anne Layh, of Coonabarabran, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 11, Column 1, Malta Memorial, Malta
Remembered: Panel 125, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Former Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Head Office Honour Rolls, Sydney NSW
Mosquito HJ832 took off from Alghero, Sardinia, at 1740 hours on 10 December 1943 to attack rail/road targets in the Genoa –Milan – Turin area. Nothing further was heard from the aircraft after take-off. In 1949 following enquiries by the Missing Research and Enquiry Unit operating in the
Mediterranean area, it was reported that no trace of the aircraft or crew could be found.
The crew members of HJ832 were:
Wing Commander Peter Robert Burton-Gyles DSO DFC & Bar (40077) (RAF) (Pilot)
Pilot Officer Eric John Layh (404788) (Navigator/Bomb Aimer)
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, 166/24/245
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line