LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Reginald BELLHOUSE
Service No: 436712
Born: Woodend VIC, 10 January 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 27 March 1943 (at Melbourne VIC)
Unit: No. 8 Operational Training Unit RCAF
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 8 Operational Training Unit Hurricane aircraft 5437), Nova Scotia Canada, 16 November 1944, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Middleton Holy Trinity Old Cemetery, Nova Scotia, Canada
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Frank Gordon and Emily Elizabeth Bellhouse, of Mount Macedon, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Mount Macedon VIC
Remembered: Panel 133, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
The DVA record shows Flight Sergeant Bellhouse enlisting from Victoria; however he has a WA Service Number (436XXX) and is listed on the WA Memorial.
On the 16th November 1944, Hurricane 5437 was one of a Squadron formation of nine aircraft, detailed to carry out an interception exercise with No. 126 Squadron at Dartmouth. On take off from Dartmouth there was 10/10 tenths cloud at 2,100 feet, and the formation suddenly encountered conditions of zero visibility while flying low. Two of the aircraft were lost, Hurricane 5437 flown by Flight Sergeant Reginald Bellhouse (436712) crashed into a hill and burned, and Hurricane 5715 flown by Pilot Officer Patrick Flood O’Hanlon (165612) (RAFVR) crashed into Gaspereau Lake.
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, 166/5/807