LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Francis Russell OPRAY
Service No: 428503
Born: Caulfield VIC, 14 September 1924
Enlisted in the RAAF: 6 November 1942
Unit: No. 86 Squadron
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 86 Squadron Mustang aircraft A68-501), off Cape Pallarenda QLD, 9 August 1945, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John Stuart Opray and Emily Alice Opray, of Caulfield Victoria
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 5, Sydney Memorial, Rookwood NSW
Remembered: Panel 104, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 9 August 1945, Mustang A68-501 flown by Pilot Officer Opray was on a non-operational training flight when it crashed into the sea in the vicinity of Cape Pallarenda, Queensland. The aircraft was seen to dive into the sea from a height of approximately 8,000 feet and Pilot Officer Opray was killed.
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, 166/31/419; A9845, 126