LEST WE FORGET
Warrant Officer Allen John PAINTING
Service No: 412673
Born: Whitton NSW, 9 February 1917
Enlisted in the RAAF: 20 July 1941
Unit: No. 180 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Dunsfold
Died: Air Operations: (No. 180 Squadron Mitchell aircraft FL707), France, 26 November 1943, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Cherbourg Old Communal Cemetery, Manche, France
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John Thomas Painting and Annie Painting, of Whitton, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Whitton NSW
Remembered: Panel 128, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: ANZAC Memorial Clock, Leeeton NSW
Mitchell FL707 took off from Dunsfold as part of a formation detailed to carry out a daylight attack on construction works at Martinvast, Cherbourg, France. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. A Missing Research and Enquiry team later reported: “As a result of a collision with another aircraft FL707 crashed at Trouville at approximately 1400 hours on 26 November 1943. There were no survivors from either aircraft.” The formation encountered heavy flak over the target area and was broken up. It was presumed that another aircraft of No. 180 Squadron collided with FL707 which went down out of control. Eventually one aircraft struck the ground, and the other broke up in the air.
The crew members of FL707 were:
Warrant Officer Allen John Painting (412673) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Lieutenant William Anderson Solheim (T-190848) (US Army) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Samuel Robert Troman (R/178352) (RCAF) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Cecil Gwynne Underwood (420720) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
The crew members of the other No. 180 squadron Mitchell aircraft were:
Warrant Officer Frederick Burgess Dixon (550726) (RAF) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Charles Sidney Graves (1377880) (RAFVR) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Flight Sergeant Reginald Robert Howlett (1335537) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant George James Saunders (1381689) (RAFVR) (Wireless 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
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A9301, 412673
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line