LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant George Douglas CALDER
Service No: 401366
Born: Carlton VIC, 25 July 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 2 February 1941
Unit: No. 1653 Conversion Unit (RAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 1653 Conversion Unit Liberator aircraft AL624), Scotland, 14 September 1942, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Kirkinner Cemetery, Wigtownshire, Scotland
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Alexander George and Mary Calder, of St. Kilda, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: St Kilda VIC
Remembered: Panel 119, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1100 hours on 14 September 1942 Liberator AL624 took off from RAF Burn detailed to carry out a non-operational cross-country training flight. At 1219 hours it received a QDM (magnetic heading to base) of 132 degrees from RAF Silloth. From then nothing was heard and the aircraft failed to return to base. A report into the accident stated: “the time and cause of the accident was not known but it was presumed that the Pilot descended through cloud shortly after turning on BTA to position himself and struck a hill. Three other aircraft completed the same route without incident.”
The crew members of AL624 were:
Pilot Officer Ivan Harold Betts (109064) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant Geoffrey Crisp Boar (1310500) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant James Bowrey (1174321) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant George Douglas Calder (401366) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant John Churley Freestone (1311904) (RAFVR) (Observer)
Sergeant John Edwin Charles Averell Steele-Nicholson (1591275) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Victor Frederick Talley (1320265) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Derek Eaton Warner (655996) (RAFVR) (Second Pilot)
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, 163/95/372