LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Robert James McDERMOTT
Service No: 30029
Born: Hobart TAS, 22 May 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 11 March 1940
Unit: No. 521 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Langham, Norfolk
Died: Air Operations (No. 521 Squadron Hudson aircraft FK740), North Sea, 7 February 1945, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John James McDermott and Theodora Isabel McDermott, of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Roll of Honour: Hobart TAS
Remembered: Panel 283, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 126, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 7 February 1945, Hudson FK740 was detailed to carry out a meteorological flight from Langham to the vicinity of the Norwegian coast and to return to the Wick airfield in Northern Scotland. Climbs of up to 18,000 feet were to be made during the flight for the purpose of securing weather data. FK740 took off at 0415 hours in fairly good weather but at 0612 hours distress signals were received from the aircraft and its position was plotted immediately by two RAF radio stations. No further signals were received from the aircraft nor were any traces found during the comprehensive searches that were made. In 1948 it was recorded that the missing crew members had lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of FK740 were:
Flight Sergeant Arthur Robert Gray (1390865) (RAFVR) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Flying Officer Dennis James Hinton (152702) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Joseph Patrick Holian (418117) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Lieutenant Peter John Huntley (136461) (RAFVR) (Second Pilot)
Flying Officer Robert James McDermott (30029) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Kenneth Trevitt (1871485) (RAFVR) (Meteorological Observer)
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, 166/18/616