LEST WE FORGET
Air Vice Marshal Wilfred Ashton McCLAUGHRY CB DSO MC DFC
From Australia serving in the Royal Air Force
He changed the spelling of his surname from McCloughry.
Service No: No Service Number for Officers of Air Rank
Born: Knightsbridge SA, 26 November 1894
Enlisted in the RAF: 1919
Appointment: Air Officer Commanding Egypt (Air Headquarters Egypt)
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 173 Squadron (RAF) Lodestar II aircraft EW986), near Heliopolis, Egypt, 4 January 1943, Aged 48 Years
Buried: Heliopolis War Cemetery, Egypt
CWGC Additional Information: Son of James and Charlotte R. McClaughry, of Adelaide, South Australia; husband of Angela G. M. McClaughry, of St. John’s Wood, London
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Commemorative Roll, Australian War Memorial, Canberra
Air Vice Marshal McClaughry’s biography is shown on the Australian Dictionary of Biography.
Lodestar EW986 was returning from a trip by Air Vice Marshal McClaughry, Lady Tedder and their staff to a number of units. During the approach to land, the aircraft crashed. Lady Tedder was the wife of Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Middle East.
On board EW396 were:
Squadron Leader Richard George Chester (75753) (RAFVR)
Sergeant Norman Louis Clarke (813215) (RAF(Auxiliary Air Force))
Squadron Leader Hugh Wynston Cleland (82106) (RAFVR)
Flying Officer Graham Grant Cowlin (109928) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Pilot Officer William Alfred Hawkins (49535) (RAF)
Leading Aircraftman Albert John William Hurdle (1401057) (RAFVR)
Flying Officer Eric Ralph Dalton James (127526) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Air Vice Marshal Wilfred Ashton McClaughery (RAF) CB DSO MC DFC
Wing Commander Gerard Basil Nicholas DFC (88266) (RAFVR)
Flight Lieutenant James Ronal Ritchie (75755) (RAFVR)
Lady Rosalinde Tedder
References:
Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll On-Line Records
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record AWM65 3319; B2455 McCLAUGHRY W A
Bibliography:
Cutlack, F.M. (Frederic Morley) The Australian Flying Corps in the Western and Eastern Theatres of War 1914-8, Angus and Robertson Ltd Sydney, 1941