LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Arnold Harvey BORRETT
Service No: 406769
Born: Kalgoorlie WA, 12 February 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 31 March 1941
Unit: No. 15 Squadron (RAF), RAF Bourn, Cambridgeshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 15 Squadron Stirling aircraft BF378), Netherlands, 19 February 1943, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Schiermonnikoog (Vredenhof) Cemetery, Netherlands
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Harry Britain Borrett and Emily Eliza Borrett, of Mount Lawley, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Perth WA
Remembered: Panel 119, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
Brother of Flight Sergeant Frederick Britain Borrett (402104)
Stirling BF378 of 15 Squadron took off from RAF Station Bourn at 1753 hours on 19 February 1943 to bomb Wilhelmshaven, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. It was later established that the aircraft crashed in the Waddenzee killing all seven crew members.
The crew members of BF378 were:
Sergeant Arnold Harvey Borrett (406769) (Rear Gunner)
Flying Officer Bernard Verdun Crawford (414256) (RNZAF) (Pilot)
Flying Officer Paul Terence Howson (125164) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Kenneth Stuart Keeble (1114757) (RAFVR) (First Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Clarence Roy Long (J/11238) (RCAF) (Navigator)
Sergeant William Henry Macklin (959456) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant Charles John Jay Wellesley (405370) (Mid Upper 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, 166/6/52
Bibliography:
Gaston, Bruce DFC (406646), Harry Horner DFC OAM (406595), Raymond Storer (406666) (Editors), Aircrew for the Duration: of and by members of RAAF EATS Courses 10, 11, 12 & 13, Gaston Horner and Storer, Nedlands WA, 1990