LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Raymond YABSLEY
Service No: 432329
Born: Marrickville NSW, 27 September 1924
Enlisted in the RAAF: 5 December 1942
Unit: No. 19 Operational Training Unit (RAF), RAF Station Kinloss
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 19 Operational Training Unit Whitley aircraft Z6739), North Sea, 28 August 1944, Aged 19 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Harry and Maud Edith Yabsley, of Belmore, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Belmore NSW
Remembered: Panel 262, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 133, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 27 August 1944 Whitley Z6739 was detailed on the night to carry out a bombing exercise at Burghead and then a cross country operational training exercise from Base – Benbecula – Cape Wrath – 58deg N 1 deg W – Inverurie – Base and on return to carry out an air firing exercise at Spey Bay. The aircraft took off at 2139 hours from Kinloss, completed the bombing exercise and carried on with the cross country exercise. All early contacts were in order. At 0140 hours on 28 August Z6739 requested a fix from Leuchars and received a first class bearing. Good contacts were maintained with the aircraft until 0231 hours, but then nothing further was heard from the aircraft which did not return to base. Searches were carried out over the following days but no trace of the missing aircraft or crew members was found. In 1949 it was recorded that the missing crew had lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of Z6739 were:
Flight Sergeant Peter Giblin Caddy (432340) (Pilot)
Sergeant John Crawford (1566714) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant John Aidan Butler Finch (1582444) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Richard Edward Tibbles (2235184) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Francis Herbert Truffet (1455172) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Raymond Yabsley (432329) (Wireless Operator Air)
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, 166/45/68