LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant John Colin RANFORD
Service No: 436932
Born: Subiaco WA, 9 October 1924
Enlisted in the RAAF: 22 May 1943
Unit: No. 1 Wireless Air Gunners School, Ballarat VIC
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 1 Wireless Air Gunners School Tiger Moth aircraft A17-708), near Ballarat, 6 March 1945, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Ballarat (New) General Cemetery, Ballarat VIC
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Albert Bristow Ranford and Violet Ellen Ranford, of North Perth, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: North Perth WA
Remembered: Panel 116, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
On 6 March 1945, Tiger Moth A17-708 crashed 2 km north of Windermere while aerobatics and steep turns were being practiced and both crew members were killed. The crew members were:
Flight Sergeant John Colin Ranford (436932) (Pilot)
Sergeant Norman Henry Smith (431898) (Second Pilot)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A9845, 81