LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Ivan Alfred Harold LAUGHTON
Service No: 407503
Born: Adelaide SA, 19 May 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF:
Unit: No. 223 Squadron (RAF), Maaten Bagush, Egypt
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 223 Squadron Baltimore aircraft AG772), Egypt, 20 June 1942, Aged 20 Years
Buried: El Alamein War Cemetery, Egypt
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Harold William Henry and Doris Mary Kathleen Laughton, of Glenelg, South Australia.
Roll of Honour: Glenelg SA
Remembered: Panel 125, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
On 20 June 1942 Baltimore AG772 was returning from an operational mission when it crashed. The wing tip of the aircraft struck the ground while the aircraft was trying to locate the flare path and it ran into ground mist. The machine crashed at 0130 hours and a bomb on board blew up and exploded. Three on board were killed and one was injured.
The crew members of AG772 were:
Pilot Officer J N Bignold (117864) (RAFVR) (Observer) Injured
Pilot Officer Michael Lyon Bowley (110343) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant Ivan Alfred Harold Laughton (407503) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant John Dennis Paulich (778882) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
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, 163/136/153