LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Allan Kenneth Burt MESSER
Service No: 406570
Born: Perth WA, 8 June 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 3 February 1941
Unit: No. 162 Squadron (RAF), Bilbeis, Egypt
Died: Air Operations (No. 162 Squadron Bisley (Blenheim Mk V5) aircraft BA315), off the Algerian Coast, 29 January 1943, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Kenneth Durward Messer and Hilda Maud Messer; husband of Katherine Elizabeth Messer, of Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Column 277, Alamein Memorial, Egypt
Remembered: Panel 127, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
On 29 January 1943 as a result of a flying accident, Bisley BA315 of No. 162 Squadron crashed into the sea at a position 230 degrees from and 3 miles off Saida, Algiers, with the crew and passenger missing believed drowned.
Those on board BA315 were:
Flight Sergeant Herbert Frederick Backhouse (406323) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Sergeant Alexander Wilson Cheyne (1001912) (RAFVR) (Observer)
Flying Officer Albert Kenneth Burt Messer (406570) (Pilot)
Aircraftman Class 2 Charles Edwin Stone (1112618) (RAFVR) (Passenger)
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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/27/34
Bibliography:
Gaston, Bruce DFC (406646), Harry Horner DFC OAM (406595), Raymond Storer (406666) (Editors), Aircrew for the Duration: of and by members of RAAF EATS Courses 10, 11, 12 & 13, Gaston Horner and Storer, Nedlands WA, 1990