LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Ian Fowler Stewart McCOLL
Service No: 406544
Born: Mildura VIC, 18 April 1913
Enlisted in the RAAF: 6 January 1941 (at Perth WA)
Unit: No. 408 Squadron (RCAF), RAF Leeming, Yorkshire
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 408 Squadron Halifax aircraft DG238), Yorkshire, 9 November 1942, Aged 29 Years
Buried: Ripon Cemetery, Yorkshire UK
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John James McColl and Margaret Mary McColl; husband of Elsie Joyce McColl, of Nedlands, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Perth WA
Remembered: Panel 133, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
On the 9th November 1942, Halifax DG238 was detailed to carry out a non operational fighter a fighter affiliation training exercise. The aircraft crashed at approximately 1530 hours at Kirkby Farm near Nortallerton, Yorkshire, and all the crew were killed. A flying accident report stated: “the aircraft crashed after taking violent evasive action, when it stalled and spun in due to lack of speed in a steep turn. The crash was entirely due to pilot error with the aircraft spinning in from a considerable altitude and the crash showing signs of a partial recovery.”
The crew members of DG238 were:
Pilot Officer Ronald George Bell DFM (J/17824) (RCAF) (Pilot)
Sergeant Douglas Dean Gardner (1391822) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Arthur Ernest Fuce Giles (133184) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Pilot Officer Philip Malcolm Matthews (J/11847) (RCAF) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Ian Fowler Stewart McColl (406544) (Wireless 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, 163/14/815
Bibliography:
Gaston, Bruce DFC (406646), Harry Horner DFC OAM (406595), Raymond Storer (406666) (Editors), Aircrew for the Duration: of and by members of RAAF EATS Courses 10, 11, 12 & 13, Gaston Horner and Storer, Nedlands WA, 1990