LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant Alexander William WAUGH
Service No: 413460
Born: Kingaroy QLD, 13 April 1914
Enlisted in the RAAF: 17 August 1941 (at Sydney NSW)
Unit: No. 692 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Graveley
Died: Injuries from an Aircraft Accident: (No. 692 Squadron Mosquito aircraft PP450), Graveley, 11 March 1945, Aged 30 Years
Buried: Cambridge City Cemetery, Cambridgeshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Vivien Thomas Waugh and Elsie Ida Waugh; husband of Joyce Clare Waugh, of Chatswood, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Chatswood NSW
Remembered: Panel 132, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1828 hours on the night of the 11 March 1945, Mosquito PP450 took off from Graveley detailed to bomb Berlin. Soon after take-off, the aircraft lost power on one engine and it headed back towards the airfield. The approach was made at 1852 hours, but the aircraft overshot the runway, crashed into a hedge and caught fire. The Pilot died of his injuries and the Navigator was injured in the crash.
The crew members of PP450 were:
Flying Officer Leo Richard Corrigan (3834) (Navigator) Injured, Discharged from the RAAF: 19 June 1947
Flight Lieutenant Alexander William Waugh (413460) (Pilot) Fatally injured
A report into the accident stated: “The starboard engine failed approximately 10 minutes after take- off. On attempting a single engine landing, the Pilot approached too fast with no flaps and ran off the runway, crashed through a hedge and came to rest in flames at the south west end of the runway. The Pilot died of his injuries. The Pilot made an error of judgement by cutting his approach too short, coming in to land too fast and failing to put his flaps down. A Secondary error of judgement was by not aligning himself correctly on the runway.”
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, 166/43/1211