LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant John Malcolm CRAIG
Service No: 410309
Born: Armadale VIC, 6 July 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 6 December 1941
Unit: No. 3 Squadron
Died: Air Operations: (No. 3 Squadron Kittyhawk aircraft FM528), near Rome, 4 June 1944, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Beach Head War Cemetery, Anzio, Italy
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John Frederick and Margaret Kerr Craig, of Murrumbeena, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 98, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 4 June 1944, Kittyhawk FM528 flown by Flight Sergeant Craig was one of 6 aircraft in formation when it attacked enemy military trucks on a road near Rome in the Subiaco/Arsell/ Avezzanno area, Italy. FM528 was hit by anti-aircraft fire immediately after its bombing run. The aircraft went into a shallow dive, exploded and burned on impact with the ground. Flight Sergeant Craig’s body was found later by an Army patrol.
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, 166/8/493