LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Frank Howard MITCHELL
Service No: 404654
Born: Cobar NSW, 27 May 1914
Enlisted in the RAAF: 11 October 1940 (at Brisbane QLD)
Unit: No. 21 Operational Training Unit (RAF)
Died: Air Operations (No. 21 Operational Training Unit Wellington aircraft X9667), North Sea, 27 January 1943, Aged 28 Years
Buried: Bergen-op-Zoom War Cemetery, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands
CWGC Additional Information: Son of James and Rosina Catherine Mitchell, of Redfern, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Brisbane QLD
Remembered: Panel 133, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 27 January 1943, Wellington X9667 crashed in the sea between Den Helder and the Island of Texel, Holland. Flight Sergeant Morgan was a Prisoner of War and the others were missing. The aircraft was detailed for a Bullseye Exercise and took off at 0830 hours. Radio silence was ordered, and nothing was heard after take-off. The Bullseye route took the aircraft 50 miles out over the North Sea from Clacton, and it was destroyed by enemy action.
The crew members of X9667 were:
Sergeant Gordon George Ellis (1320286) (RAFVR) (Pilot under instruction)
Sergeant Ronald Edward Elvin (1332186) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Dilwyn Llewellyn (131972) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Flying Officer Frank Howard Mitchell (404654) (Screened Pilot)
Flight Sergeant J N Morgan (744928) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner) PoW
Sergeant Norman George Smith (414377) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Eric Hector Tucker (1457344) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Morgan later reported: “Flying Officer Mitchell remained at the controls, giving myself and others the opportunity of abandoning the aircraft in the nick of time. The suddenness of the attack which ended our ill-fated flight was such that I am unable to give much detail of our last moments together.”
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, 166/27/31