LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant John Henry STUBBS
Service No: 406374
Born: Boulder WA, 12 February 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 11 November 1940
Unit: No. 21 Squadron (RAF), Luqa, Malta
Died: Air Operations (No. 21 Squadron Blenheim aircraft Z9823), off Malta, 11 February 1942, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Henry Claude and Amelia Florence Stubbs, of South Perth, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Panel 5, Column 2, Malta Memorial, Malta
Remembered: Panel 101, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
On the 11th February 1942, Blenheim Z9823 was one of four aircraft which took off from RAF Station Luqa, Malta, to carry out a shipping sweep of Kerkenna Islands, Tunisia.
On returning to base, the gunner of the leading aircraft received by Wireless/Telephone the stand off signal “Air Raid in progress”. The formation circled a point 50 miles south of Malta for 15 minutes, during which no more stand off signals were received. The Gunner then wirelessed for instructions. The reply was in the form of a QDM message (magnetic heading to destination), when the formation was attacked by enemy fighters, and Z9823 shot down into the sea. A search was later conducted without success.
The crew members of Z9823 were:
Sergeant John Henry Stubbs (406374) (Pilot)
Sergeant Peter Tyas (1265240) (RAFVR) (Observer)
Sergeant Justyn Stuart Grabham (976771) (RAFVR) (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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/163/306