LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Neil Keith RAYNER
Service No: 407649
Born: Terowie SA, 28 July 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 7 December 1940
Unit: No. 2 Squadron, Penfoei
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 13 Squadron Hudson aircraft A16-61), Timor, 14 February 1942, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Ambon War Cemetery, Indonesia
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Lewis Bluff Rayner and Alice Jane Rayner; husband of Jean Annie Primrose Rayner, of Reservoir, Victoria, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Whyte Yarcowie SA
Remembered: Panel 98, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
On the 14th a Hudson of No. 13 Squadron took off from Penfoei at dawn into a stormy sky and, while still near the aerodrome, crashed after being struck by lightning. The pilot, Flying Officer Mitchell, and all the crew were killed.
Extract from Gillison, D.N. (Douglas Napier) (254475) Royal Australian Air Force 1939-1942, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1962 – Page 420
The crew members of A16-61 were:
Pilot Officer John Nicol Goodfellow (407894) (Second Pilot)
Flying Officer Geoffrey Gordon Mitchell (664) (Pilot)
Sergeant Charles Lawrence Motteram (406401) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Neil Keith Rayner (407649) (Wireless Air Gunner)
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 A705, 163/155/73
Bibliography:
Bennett, J. (John William) Highest Traditions: the history of No. 2 Squadron RAAF, Australian Government Publishing Service, 1995
Grantham, S. R. (Sidney Richard) The 13 Squadron Story, S.R. Grantham, Dee Why NSW 2099, 1991
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Anson, Hudson and Sunderland in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1992