LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Douglas Frederick BAVIN
Service No: 415212
Born: Tambellup WA, 18 November 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 12 August 1941
Unit: No. 10 Operational Training Unit RAF
Died: Air Operations: (No. 10 Operational Training Unit Whitley aircraft DB414), Atlantic Ocean, 3 June 1943, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information:
Roll of Honour: Denmark WA
Remembered: Panel 192, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 118, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
Whitley BD414 of No 10 Operational Training Unit took off at 1045 hours on 3 June 1943, on an operational patrol in the Atlantic Ocean. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. Following post war enquiries and investigations, it was recorded in 1948 that the missing crew had lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of BD414 were:
Flight Sergeant Douglas Frederick Bavin (415212) (Pilot)
Flying Officer David Taylor Dorward (J/14637) (RCAF) (Navigator)
Sergeant Erik Haakon Neilson (R/10786) (RCAF) (Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Cecil Aspland Nicholls (136821) (RAFVR) (Bomb Aimer)
Pilot Officer Harold Douglas Pepper (J/22032) (RCAF) (Second Pilot)
Sergeant Colin Arthur Richardson (1385126) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator 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, 166/5/179