LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Roy Richard CLEGG
Service No: 420337
Born: Dalby QLD, 6 November 1915
Enlisted in the RAAF: 11 October 1941 (at Sydney NSW)
Unit: No. 1659 Conversion Unit (RAF), RAF Station Topcliffe
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 1659 Conversion Unit Halifax aircraft BB210), Yorkshire, 15 September 1943, Aged 27 Years
Buried: Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery, Yorkshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Edward and Sarah Clegg, of Penrith, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Penrith NSW
Remembered: Panel 120, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Penrith City Memory Park, Penrith NSW
On 15 September 1943, Halifax BB210 took off from Topcliffe for a fighter affiliation exercise. The aircraft force landed at 1215 hours into a ploughed field, a few hundred yards north west of the Askham Richard village on the south side Rufforth Airfield, breaking up into three sections. Flight Sergeant Clegg was killed in the accident and the others survived the crash.
The crew members of BB210 were:
Sergeant Douglas Gordon Addison (R/225303) (RCAF) (Air Gunner) Killed on Air Operations: 18 November 1943
Sergeant R C Bechtold (1318261) (RAFVR)
Sergeant W H Blake (978336) (RAFVR)
Flight Sergeant Walter Francis Burge (413820) (Second Pilot) Killed on Air Operations: 18 November 1943
Flying Officer T C Kaye (505840) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Roy Richard Clegg (420337) (Third Pilot)
Sergeant A A Deane (1515512) (RAFVR)
Sergeant William Carter Gilchrist (R/139912) (RCAF) (Air Gunner) Killed on Air Operations: 18 November 1943
Pilot Officer C S Lambert (151374) (RAFVR)
Sergeant W C Martin (R/188035) (RCAF)
Warrant Officer McNamara (R/101601) (RCAF)
Sergeant J F Pratt (1526418) (RAFVR)
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, 166/7/201
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line