LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant George Bisgood WOOTTEN
Service No: 413065
Born: Adelaide SA, 30 September 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 15 August 1941 (at Sydney NSW)
Unit: No. 14 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 14 Squadron Marauder aircraft FK376), Egypt, 10 May 1943, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Moascar War Cemetery, Egypt
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Major-General George Frederick Wootten C.B.E., D.S.O., and Bar., and Muriel Frances Wootten, of Sandringham, Victoria, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Mosman NSW
Remembered: Panel 133, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Major General Sir George Frederick Wootten KBE CB DSO & Bar ED (NX7) was commanding the 9th Australian Division at the time his son was killed.
On 10 May 1943 Marauder FK376 took off on a non-operational day training flight and crashed at 0930 hours. The aircraft was circling the aerodrome at a height of 1,800 feet preparatory to carrying out a fighter affiliation exercise when the tail plane fell off. The aircraft went into a slow spin and crashed 2 miles south west of Abu-Sueir aerodrome and all on board were killed.
The crew members of FK376 were:
Sergeant Eric Emlyn Blumfield (906029) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Corporal William Frederick Cooke (1360058) (RAFVR) (Aircraft Hand)
Sergeant Leonard Colin Wynne Finlayson (778243) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Eric Walker McClelland MID (146393) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant Robert Charles Quinney (1534949) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Albert Williams (1101199) (RAFVR) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Sergeant George Bisgood Wootten (413065) (Second Pilot)
Commonwealth War Graves record that all the RAF personnel on the aircraft belonged to
No 221 Squadron RAF- however this Squadron is not recorded as having operated Marauder aircraft. AWM Roll of Honour and AWM 237 (65) records Sergeant Wootten’s unit as No. 14 Squadron RAF. However his RAAF Service Record file records him posted to 5 Middle East Training School on 4 April 1943 and that he was still with that unit when he lost his life.
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, 166/44/29
Bibliography:
Napier, Michael Winged Crusaders: the exploits of 14 Squadron RFC & RAF 1915-1945, Pen & Sword Books, Barnsley UK, 2012