LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Francis Montague WILSON
Service No: 417031
Born: Wallaroo SA, 13 February 1913
Enlisted in the RAAF: 8 November 1941
Unit: No. 1 Overseas Aircraft Delivery Unit (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: Coastal Command 1944-5 (No. 1 Overseas Aircraft Delivery Unit Beaufort aircraft ML444), North Atlantic, 7 March 1944, Aged 31 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John Vernon Caldicott Wilson and Alice Jane Wilson; husband of Thelma Mary Wilson, of Plympton, South Australia. A.F.I.A., A.I.S.
Roll of Honour: Adelaide SA
Remembered: Panel 258, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 132, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
At 0730 hours on 7 March 1944 Beaufort ML444 took off from RAF Station Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, via RAF Station Portreath in transit to North Africa. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off. In 1948 it was recorded that the missing crew members had lost their lives and had no known graves.
The crew members of ML444 were:
Sergeant Peter Charles Brown (1713691) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Sergeant Edward Roy Groves (1324475) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Orin Clemens Markle (J/91091) (RCAF) (Pilot)
Flying Officer Francis Montague Wilson (417031) (Navigator)
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, 166/43/552