LEST WE FORGET
Warrant Officer Mervyn Thomas VAUGHAN
Service No: 30201
Born: Waratah TAS, 24 December 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 6 may 1940
Unit: No. 2 Operational Training Unit
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 2 Operational Training Unit Kittyhawk aircraft A29-199), near Mildura, 14 February 1945, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Mildura Public Cemetery, Victoria
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Harold Harry and Leila Vaughan, of East Devonport, Tasmania; husband of Elizabeth Vaughan, of East Melbourne
Roll of Honour: East Devonport TAS
Remembered: Panel 113, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 14 February 1945, Kittyhawk A29-199 flown by Warrant Officer Vaughan was returning from air to ground gunnery practice when he reported by radio that the aircraft had engine trouble and was about to carry out wheels up forced landing. It appeared that the pilot overshot and forced the aircraft onto the ground at high speed. The aircraft crashed at 1045 hours two miles north of the Mildura aerodrome tower. Warrant Officer Vaughan was killed and the aircraft extensively damaged. It was considered that had he employed better judgement he would have landed with flaps down and may have avoided personal injury.
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/42/105; A9845, 9