LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Edward Charles John COLLINS
Service No: 414906
Born: Springsure QLD, 6 April 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 6 December 1941
Unit: No. 8 Operational Training (RCAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 8 Operational Training Unit Mosquito aircraft KB32), Nova Scotia, 22 August 1944, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Middleton Holy Trinity Old Cemetery, Nova Scotia
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John Lionel Stanley and Myrtle Emily Collins, of Clermont, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Clermont QLD
Remembered: Panel 133, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 22 August 1944, Mosquito KB32 crashed east of Greenwood near Harmony, Nova Scotia, while engaged in a night searchlight and navigation exercise. The aircraft struck the ground at a high rate of speed and it appears to have exploded or caught fire in flight. Both the crew members were killed.
The crew members of KB32 were:
Flying Officer Edward Charles John Collins (414906) (Pilot)
Flying Officer William Thomas Slaughter (434658) (Navigator)
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, 166/8/609