LEST WE FORGET
Wing Commander John William McGUIRE AFC
Officer Commanding, Performance Test Squadron
From Australia serving in the Royal Air Force
Service No: 34211 (RAF)
Born: Leederville WA, 20 May 1911
Enlisted in the RAF: Date unavailable
Unit: Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment, Boscombe Down
Awarded the Air Force Cross (AFC)
Died: Aircraft Accident (Liberator aircraft AL546), Dorset, 24 March 1942, Aged 30 Years
Cremated: Southampton Crematorium, Hampshire
CWGC Additional Information: No additional information
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel Supplementary 12, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Wing Commander McGuire was an Australian Cadet trained for the RAF and embarked for the UK on 9 July 1934.
On 24 March 1942, Wing Commander McGuire was flying Liberator AL546 on a performance test flight when electrical problems were experienced and the starboard outer engine caught fire. The fire was unable to be extinguished and the crew was ordered to bale out, but Wing Commander McGuire was unable to do so and he died in the ensuing crash.
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record AWM65, 3373
On Line Sources
WA Register of Births, Deaths and Marriages On Line
Bibliography:
Newton, Dennis A Few of the Few: Australians and the Battle of Britain, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT 2600, 1990