LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Ronald Angus McGREGOR
Service No: 400658
Born: Stawell VIC, 17 May 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 12 October 1940
Unit: No. 98 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Dunsfold
Died: Air Operations: (No. 98 Squadron Mitchell aircraft FV985), France, 23 July 1944, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Saint Philbert-Sur-Risle Communal Cemetery, Eure, France
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John and Mary Isabella McGregor, of Stawell, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Stawell VIC
Remembered: Panel 126, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At about 1500 hours on 23 July 1944 Mitchell FV985 took off from Dunsfold detailed to bomb railway yards at Glea/Montfort, France, from a height of 10,000 feet. While the bombs were being released over the target, an explosion occurred, and it was believed a bomb from the aircraft exploded in the bomb bay or just after leaving the aircraft. The aircraft disintegrated in the air and all the crew members were killed. The explosion also caused casualties in three other aircraft in the box formation.
The crew members of FV985 were:
Pilot Officer Jack Dodd (54258) (RAF) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Pilot Officer Ronald Angus McGregor (400658) (Air Gunner)
Squadron Leader Hugh Paynter AFC (42721) (RAF) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Thomas Francis Riley (1309520) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air)
No. 98 Squadron suffered the following additional casualties on 23 July 1944:
Flying Officer Eric Robert Mills (131825) (RAFVR)
Flight Sergeant William Taylor (1074957) (RAFVR)
Sergeant Charles Eldred Wilfred Thomas (1182832) (RAFVR)
Flight Lieutenant William Derek St Clair Weekes (116077) (RAFVR)
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, 166/26/522