LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant James CHANDLER
Service No: 403686
Born: Arncliffe NSW, 13 August 1914
Enlisted in the RAAF: 2 March 1941
Unit: No. 69 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations (No. 69 Squadron Baltimore aircraft AG796), Central Mediterranean, 23 February 1943, Aged 28 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William and Alice Louise Chandler, of Arncliffe, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 11, Column 2, Malta Memorial, Malta
Remembered: Panel 120, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1025 hours on 23 February 1943 Baltimore AG796 took off on an operational reconnaissance. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it did not return to base. Following post war enquiries and investigations, it was recorded in 1948 that the missing crew members had lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of AG796 were:
Flight Sergeant James Chandler (403686) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Richard Alexander Heywood (115165) (RAFVR) (Observer)
Flight Sergeant Francis Reginald Oldrieve (1281595) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant John Bernard Sullivan (402891) (Wireless Operator Air 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 Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/7/33