LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant John David Rupert Bernard CARRUTHERS
Service No: 400963
Born: Bombala NSW, 18 March 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 7 December 1940 (at Melbourne VIC)
Unit: No. 18 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 18 Squadron Boston aircraft HK971), Italy, 2 August 1944, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Padua War Cemetery, Italy
CWGC Additional Information: Son of the Revd. David Davidson Carruthers and Muriel Eugenie Carruthers, of Geelong, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 120, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 2 August 1944 Boston HK971 took off a reconnaissance of shipping off the east coast of Italy and the Po Valley. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. A post war report by a Missing Research and Enquiry team stated “the aircraft crashed at Pollesella, Italy, on the night of 2 August and exploded on impact.” All the crew members had been killed.
The crew members of HK971 were:
Flight Sergeant William Brady (1075561) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air)
Flight Lieutenant John David Rupert Bernard Carruthers (440963) (Pilot)
Warrant Officer Alan Dyer (553009) (RAF) (Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Alfred Harrison DFM (162526) (RAFVR) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
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, 166/7/582