LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer James Warwick Davison REID
Service No: 421464
Born: Wagga Wagga NSW, 20 May 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 1 February 1942
Unit: No. 357 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 357 Squadron Dakota aircraft KJ927), Burma (Myanmar), 10 February 1945, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Henry John and Hilder Muriel Reid, of Manly, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Albury NSW
Remembered: Column 458, Singapore Memorial, Singapore
Remembered: Panel 129, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 10 February 1945 Dakota KJ927 failed to return to base from a ferry flight mission in Burma. A wireless message from KJ927 reported the aircraft over the target area in cloud in position 25.45N 093.25E and that the turbulence was excessive with the aircraft almost uncontrollable. There was no report of a forced landing and it was assumed that the aircraft had crashed as the range limit had been exceeded. Following post war enquiries and investigations it was recorded that the missing crew members had no known graves.
The crew members of KJ927 were:
Warrant Officer John Begg (425109) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Warrant Officer Jack Hartley (1534015) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant James Leslie Longhurst (1395543) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Thomas Porteus Nathaniel (2209199) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer James Warwick Davison Reid (421464) (Pilot)
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, 166/35/461