LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Douglas Graham SAUNDERS
Service No: 417422
Born: Adelaide SA, 28March 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 25 April 1942
Unit: No. 453 Squadron, operating from near Creix sur Mer, France
Died: Aircraft Accident: The Build-up Period (No. 453 Squadron Spitfire aircraft M4487), Coombe Hill near Willingdon, Sussex, 13 June 1944, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Brookwood Military Cemetery, Surrey
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Magnus Graham Saunders and Bessie Margaret Sunders, of Leabrook, South Australia
Roll of Honour: Adelaide SA
Remembered: Panel 105, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
Flight Sergeant Saunders in M4487 was killed in a crash towards the end of a ferry trip from a still-under-construction airfield at Longues near the front line in France. The pilots encountered some very bad weather and were forced to fly through heavy cloud. While doing so at a low altitude, M4487 flew into a hilly area and crashed at 1620 hours at Coombe Hill about two miles north of Eastbourne. The Squadron was in the process of receiving replacement Spitfire aircraft.
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 A9301, 417422
Bibliography:
Bennett, J. (John) Defeat to Victory: No. 453 Squadron RAAF, RAAF Museum Point Cook VIC 3029, 1994