LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Richard Edward NICHOLSON
From Australia serving in the Royal Air Force
Service No: 785015 (RAFVR)
Born: Teignmouth, England, 7 June 1914
Enlisted in the RAF: Date unavailable
Unit: No. 109 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 109 Squadron Wellington IC aircraft X9988), Libya, 22 November 1941, Aged 27 Years
Buried: Knightsbridge War Cemetery, Acroma, Libya
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Edward Chambers Nicholson and Norah Marion Nicholson, of Corowa, New South Wales Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
On 22 November 1941, Wellington X9988 took off from Landing Ground 75 on an electronic counter measures mission and was probably shot down by Italian fighter aircraft. The wreckage of the aircraft was subsequently found by Army forces 4.5 miles from Bkarinni near Bir El Igela, some 70 kms south west of Tobruk. There were no survivors from the crash and the Army unit which found the wrecked aircraft buried the bodies where the aircraft was found. At the time the remains of three members of the crew were identified and the remainder were not positively identified. In 1946 as the remains were buried in minefields, the search for unidentified members was abandoned by the Graves Registration unit, and they were recorded as having no known grave.
The crew members of X9988 were:
Sergeant Malcolm Alec Forrest (643263) (RAF) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Sergeant John Bethell Hughes (1266724) (RAFVR) (Second Pilot)
Flying Officer David Scott Jefferies (407046) (Observer)
Sergeant William Austin Keogh (J/15852) (RCAF) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Sergeant Richard Edward Nicholson (785015) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant David Sidebottom (1052404) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator/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
Gunby D (David) and Pelham Temple, Royal Air Force Bomber Losses in the Middle East and Mediterranean, Volume 1 1939-1942, Midland Publishing UK, 2006
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record B4747 NICHOLSON/RICHARD EDWARD (Army Service Number 80847)
Bibliography:
Brettingham, Laurie, Beam Benders No. 80 (Signals) Wing RAF 1940-5, Midland Publishing, Leicester UK, 1997