LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Frederick John WRIGHT
Service No: 30881
Born: Ulverstone TAS, 1 November 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 26 February 1941
Unit: No. 1 Target Towing Unit (RAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 1 Target Towing Unit Wellington aircraft HX774), North Sea, 7 August 1943, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of George Thomas Wright and Margery Wright, of Burnie, Tasmania, Australia
Roll of Honour: Burnie TAS
Remembered: Panel 194, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 133, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 0434 hours on 7 August 1943, Wellington HX774 of No 1 Target Towing Unit was flying over the sea in northerly direction about 600 yards south west of the airfield. The height was approximately 100 feet and the aircraft appeared to be losing height rapidly. The target ship “Heliopolis” contacted base and stated that they believed an aircraft had crashed into the sea. All six crew members were killed in the crash.
The crew members of HX774 were:
Sergeant Eric Williams Hirst (1134186) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant John Leonard Hiscock (1319814) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Ernest Leslie Padfield (1384929) (RAFVR)
Flight Sergeant Derrick Ralph Sorensen (1313849) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant James Leonard Webber (1435307) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Fredrick John Wright (30881) (Wireless Air Gunner)
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 A903, 30881