LEST WE FORGET

Sergeant Bobbie De Savary BURNS

Service No: 401610
Born: Auburn VIC, 31 October 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 1 march 1941
Unit: No. 5 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit (RAF), RAF Station Turnberry
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 5 Operational Training Unit Hampden aircraft AI255), near Turnberry, 18 August 1942, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Dunure Cemetery, Ayrshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Trevethan Lowenstein Burns and Gertrude Maude Ellis Burns, of Elwood, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Melbourne VIC
Remembered: Panel 119, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT

On 18 August 1942, Hampden AI255 crashed when taking off on a night practice flight. AI255 crashed one quarter of a mile south of Turnberry, Ayrshire, and Sergeant Burns was killed.

The crew members of AI255 were:

Sergeant Bobbie De Savary Burns (401610) (Pilot)
Sergeant John McMahon Ryan (412357) (RNZAF) (Wireless Operator) Injured, Killed on Air Operations: 10 April 1943

Later investigation of the accident stated that “the cause of the accident was obscure. The elevator trim tabs were in the up position, which would tend to make the aircraft nose heavy. The position of the trimmer tabs may have been due to the crash on impact. The wheel in the cockpit showed the pointer at zero the correct position of the tabs for take-off. The aircraft struck the ground at a flat angle and in fact almost horizontal.”

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, 163/94/262

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