LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer John Walsh LEWIS
Service No: 417089
Born: Adelaide SA, 24 December 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 6 December 1941
Unit: No. 14 Squadron (RAF), Blida, Algeria
Died: Air Operations (No. 14 Squadron Marauder aircraft B117780), off the Spanish Coast, 29 March 1944, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Mataro Roman Catholic Cemetery, Spain
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Henry Aloysius Lewis and Florence Catherine Lewis, of Toorak Gardens, South Australia
Roll of Honour: Adelaide SA
Remembered: Panel 125, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
Marauder B117780 of No. 14 Squadron took off at 0750 hours on 29 March 1944 to carry out a low level reconnaissance of shipping in the north west Mediterranean area along the Spanish and French coasts between Barcelona and Marseilles. The British Consul at Barcelona later advised that at 1030 hours on 29 March 1944, the aircraft crashed in the sea about 3 miles off Mataro, Barcelona district, a Spanish Mediterranean port.
The crew members of B117780 were:
Flight Sergeant Frank Raymond Lamond (410349) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Ronald Lanham (421990) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Flying Officer John Walsh Lewis (417089) (Second Pilot)
Flying Officer William Cameron McDonald (4505) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Charles Manning Peedom (421620) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Michael Thomas Woods (421840) (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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/24/413
Bibliography:
Napier, Michael Winged Crusaders: the exploits of 14 Squadron RFC & RAF 1915-1945, Pen & Sword Books, Barnsley UK, 2012