LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Vernon Charles AKES
Service No: 404393
Born: Rosewood QLD, 2 June 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 16 August 1940
Unit: No. 26 Conversion Flight (RAF), RAF Station Waterbeach
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 26 Conversion Flight Stirling aircraft N6066), near Bedford, 24 December 1941, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Wyton (St Margaret and All Saints) Churchyard, Huntingdonshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Charles and Vera Akes, of Rosewood, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Rosewood QLD
Remembered: Panel 118, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1445 hours on the 24th December 1941, Stirling N6066 from RAF Station Waterbeach, crashed at West End Farm, Kimpston, near Bedford, killing three crew members and fatally injuring three more.
The crew members of N6066 were:
Sergeant Vernon Charles Akes (404393) (Pilot) Died of injuries: 24 December 1941
Corporal Sam Hawley Atkinson (575448) (RAFVR) Slight Injuries, Killed on Air Operations: 61 September 1942
Sergeant Eric Ritchie Bowman (1500548) (RAFVR) (Second Pilot) Died of Injuries: 24 December 1941
Sergeant Reginald John Clark (1208623) (RAFVR) Died of injuries: 24 December 1941
Corporal John William Dawson (941538) (RAFVR) Seriously Injured, Killed on Air Operations: 1 October 1942
Corporal Jack Mainwaring (572972) (RAF) Slight Injuries, Killed on Air Operations: 2 July 1942
Flying Officer Henry Barrymore Rowland (404263) (Observer)
Sergeant Gerald Harry Savoy (569909) (RAF) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Edward Cameron Welsh (1257327) (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 Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/87/146