LEST WE FORGET
Leading Aircraftman Herbert Nelson SLAPP
Service No: 432979
Born: Merrylands NSW, 26 November 1924
Enlisted in the RAAF: 30 January 1943
Unit: No. 5 Service Flying Training School, Uranquinty NSW
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 5 Service Flying Training School Wirraway aircraft A20-216), near Uranquinty, 8 October 1943, Aged 18 Years
Buried: Wagga Wagga War Cemetery, NSW
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Robert Bush Slapp and Sophia Patience Slapp, of Merrylands
Roll of Honour: Merrylands NSW
Remembered: Panel 116, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Merrylands RSL Club- World War II Memorial, Merrylands NSW
Remembered: Victory in the Pacific Memorial Wall and Fountain, Merrylands NSW
Remembered: Memorial Avenue Plaques, Merrylands NSW
At 0430 hours on 8 October 1943, Wirraway A20-216 crashed during a non-operational night circuits and landings practice, and both the crew members were killed. The aircraft struck the ground at high speed in a vertical dive five miles south west of the Uranquinty aerodrome.
The crew members of A20-216 were:
Flying Officer Donald Terence Burrows (408103) (Instructor Pilot)
Leading Aircraftman Herbert Nelson Slapp (432979) (Trainee Dual 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, 166/37/221
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line