LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Paul Walter Wallace RICHARDSON
Service No: 401051
Born: Bristol, England, 4 April 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 8 December 1940 (at Melbourne VIC)
Unit: No. 194 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 194 Squadron Dakota aircraft FZ644), North East India, 24 August 1944, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Ranchi War Cemetery, India
CWGC Additional Information: Son of the Revd. Walter Wallace Richardson and Sarah Jane Richardson, of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 129, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 24 August 1944, Dakota FZ644 was detailed to carry out a supply drop on an advanced Army column operating in North East Indian and on completion of this task drop some maps to another Army column in the same area. The aircraft took off at 1600 hours and should have been back by 1900 hours. Unfortunately the monsoon was very active in the area and when the aircraft arrived over the drop zone, it was covered with thick low lying cloud. The crew knew the supplies were vital to the Army and stayed in the area until 1900 hours when they were able to drop the supplies. Although the night was fast approaching they attempted to deliver the maps, and flying over difficult mountainous terrain the aircraft crashed into a hillside and all the crew members were killed.
The crew members of FZ644 were:
Sergeant Alan Downie (1672899) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Pilot Officer Leonard Francis Fletcher (J/92619) (RCAF) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Warrant Officer Michael Graham Gregory Hunter-Muskett (642825) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air)
Pilot Officer Thomas Grant Leishman (154633) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Warrant Officer Neil Black Jarvie Melrose (971173) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air)
Flying Officer Paul Walter Wallace Richardson (401051) (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 A705, 166/35/330