LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Donald Leo McDONALD
Service No: 405598
Born: Melbourne VIC, 24 June 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 26 April 1941 (at Brisbane QLD)
Unit: No. 179 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 179 Squadron Wellington aircraft HX773), near Portreath, 15 March 1943, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Illogan (St Illogan) Churchyard, Redruth Cornwall
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Arthur James Andrew and Irene Vera Elfrieda McDonald, of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; husband of Sybil Gertrude McDonald, of Podmore, Worcestershire, England
Roll of Honour: Inverell NSW
Remembered: Panel 126, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Commonwealth Bank of Australia Honour Rolls, Sydney NSW
While in transit from RAF Station Portreath to Gibraltar on 15 March 1943, Wellington HX773 crashed at 0227 hours one mile east of Portreath aerodrome. The aircraft failed to gain height after
take-off and flew into the ground. All the crew members were killed.
The crew members of HX773 were:
Sergeant Ian Stuart Gibson (409065) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Flying Officer Follett Keith Major (403222) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Donald Leo McDonald (405598) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant William Pettigrew (405602) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Reginald Arnold Powell (412733) (RNZAF) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Hugh Miller Williamson (973896) (RAFVR) (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 Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A9301, 405598
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line