LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Robert Reginald SKIPSEY
Service No: 427955
Born: Bayswater WA, 15 December 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 11 October 1942
Unit: No. 20 (Pilot) Advanced Flying Unit RAF
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 20 (Pilot) Advanced Flying Unit Airspeed Oxford aircraft LK322), Oxfordshire, 25 April 1944, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Darlington West Cemetery, Durham UK
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John Robert and Eva Maud Skipsey, of Peppermint Grove, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Perth WA
Remembered: Panel 130, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
On the 25 April 1944, Oxford LK322 took off on a non-operational training flight, and crashed at 1515 hours near Tackley Wood, Rousham, Oxfordshire. The crew of three was killed. The aircraft struck the ground in a flat spin. It was considered that Flying Officer Wiegand was a very experienced and reliable Instructor Pilot, and that the accident was due to a defect in the design of some Oxford aircraft, which may flick into a stable flat spin when stalled.
The crew members of LK322 were:
Aircraftman Class 2 Andrew Paton (1827709) (RAFVR) (Supernumerary) (Flight Engineer, Under Training)
Flight Sergeant Robert Reginald Skipsey (427955) (Second Pilot, Under Training)
Flying Officer William Norman Wiegand (J/18006) (RCAF) (First Pilot, Instructor)
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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/37/399