LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Derrick Ralph SORENSEN
From Australia serving in the Royal Air Force
Service No: 1313849 (RAF)
Born: Date, Location unavailable
Enlisted in the RAF: Date unavailable
Unit: No.1 Target Towing Unit (RAF), RAF Station Turnberry
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 1 Target Towing Unit Wellington VIII aircraft HX774), 7 August 1943, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Dunure Cemetery, Ayrshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Paul Edwin and Anna Ernestena Sorensen, of Leura, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Commemorative Roll, Australian War Memorial, Canberra
At 0434 hours on 7 August 1943, Wellington HX 774 of No 1 Target Towing Unit was flying over the sea in northerly direction about 600 yards south west of the airfield. The height was approximately 100 feet and the aircraft appeared to be losing height rapidly. The target ship “Heliopolis” contacted base and stated that they believed an aircraft had crashed into the sea. All six crew members were killed in the crash.
The crew members of HX774 were:
Sergeant Eric Williams Hirst (1134186) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant John Leonard Hiscock (1319814) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Ernest Leslie Padfield (1384929) (RAFVR)
Flight Sergeant Derrick Ralph Sorensen (1313849) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant James Leonard Webber (1435307) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Fredrick John Wright (30881) (Wireless Air Gunner)
References:
Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/38/237