LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Herbert Frederick BACKHOUSE
Service No: 406323
Born: Tambellup WA, 25 January 1914
Enlisted in the RAAF: 11 November 1940
Unit: No. 162 Squadron (RAF), Bilbeis, Egypt
Died: Air Operations (No. 162 Squadron Bisley (Blenheim Mk V5) aircraft BA315), off the Algerian Coast, 29 January 1943, Aged 29 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Arthur Joseph Backhouse, and of Prudence Backhouse, of Mandurah, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Perth WA
Remembered: Column 278, Alamein Memorial, Egypt
Remembered: Panel 118, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
Remembered: Honour Avenues, Kings Park WA
On 29 January 1943, Bisley BA315 of No. 162 Squadron crashed into the sea at a position 230 degrees from and 3 miles off Saida, Algiers, with the crew and passenger missing believed drowned.
Those on board BA315 were:
Flight Sergeant Herbert Frederick Backhouse (406323) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Sergeant Alexander Wilson Cheyne (1001912) (RAFVR) (Observer)
Flying Officer Albert Kenneth Burt Messer (406570) (Pilot)
Aircraftman Class 2 Charles Edwin Stone (1112618) (RAFVR) (Passenger)
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, 166/5/28