LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Norman Frederick WESTHOFF
Service No: 35271
Born: Newtown NSW, 14 September 1911
Enlisted in the RAAF: 27 February 1941
Unit: No. 22 Ferry Control Unit (RAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 22 Ferry Control Unit Tiger Moth aircraft NS714), Gaya, India, 26 January 1944, Aged 32 Years
Buried: Delhi War Cemetery, India
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Harry and Jessica Westhoff; husband of Dorothy May Westhoff, of Rose Bay, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 132, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At approximately 1100 hours on 25 January 1944, Tiger Moth NS714 flown by Pilot Officer Westhoff, took off from Allabahad to be ferried to Carrackpore. At 0803 hours on 26 January, the aircraft took off from Gaya airfield, a night stop having been made there. After take-off, the aircraft flew around the airfield at an altitude not exceeding 200 feet, and then dived within 20/30 feet above the ground. It then pulled up sharply to 150 feet when it executed a stall turn. The Pilot then inadvertently allowed the aircraft to spin after the stall turn. He made a recovery from the spin but was too low to level out and the aircraft struck the ground. The crew of two was killed.
The crew members of NS714 were:
Sergeant John Stanley Lemon (1319552) (RAFVR) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Pilot Officer Norman Frederick Westhoff (35271) (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, 166/43/506