LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Howard Bryant MONTGOMERY
Service No: 430505
Born: Albert Park VIC, 29 October 1914
Enlisted in the RAAF: 29 January 1943
Unit: No. 3 (Pilot) Advanced Flying Unit (RAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 3 (Pilot) Advanced Flying Unit Oxford aircraft DF332), Gloucestershire, 29 April 1945, Aged 30 Years
Buried: Bath (Haycombe) Cemetery, Somerset
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William and Edith Montgomery; husband of May Montgomery of West Brunswick, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Ivanhoe VIC
Remembered: Panel 127, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1035 hours on 29 April 1945, Oxford DF332 took off from South Cerney to fly to Honeybourne, detailed to do steep turns and instrument flying en route. About 1100 hours when on track to Honeybourne, the aircraft flew into low cloud and a severe local hailstorm. At this stage the aircraft began to descend, with visibility30 yards, and it struck hill about 700 feet high, in flying attitude and a very shallow angle. The aircraft crashed at Guiting Wood near New Bard farm, Gloucestershire, and the crew members were killed. It was considered that the aircraft could have been forced down by icing conditions.
The crew members of DF332 were:
Flying Officer Gordon Alexander Aubrey DFC (J/35746) (RCAF) (Navigator) (Supernumerary)
Pilot Officer Sergeant Thomas Gould (197330) (RAFVR) (Instructor Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Howard Bryant Montgomery (430505) (Pilot under instruction)
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, 166/28/591