LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer George James BALLARD
Service No: 425417
Born: Brisbane QLD, 7 August 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 28 February 1942
Unit: No. 1 Ferry Control Pool (RAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 1 Ferry Control Pool Wellington aircraft LP199), off Gibraltar, 6 March 1944, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John William Ashby Ballard and Sarah Jane Ballard, of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Brisbane QLD
Remembered: Panel 257, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 118, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 6 March 1944, Wellington LP199 crashed into the sea about half a mile east of the eastern extremity of the runway at Gibraltar. The aircraft was approaching to land with wheels and flaps down when it appeared to stall from approximately 40 feet at a point about 800 yards from the eastern end of the runway. The port wing dropped and entered the water first. No member of the crew succeeded in leaving the aircraft which sank immediately after the accident. No bodies were recovered.
The crew members of LP199 were:
Flying Officer George James Ballard (425417) (Pilot)
Flying Officer Peter Angus Bradley (152389) (RAFVR)
Flying Officer Ronald Gee (151919) (RAF) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Kenneth Joseph Hansen (422992) (RNZAF) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Sergeant Francis Wilfred Marchant (1585647) (RAFVR)
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, 166/5/458