LEST WE FORGET
Leading Aircraftman Noel Irvine CRANE
Service No: 419848
Born: Fairfield VIC, 17 February 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 29 September 1942
Unit: No. 1 Service Flying Training School, RAAF Station Point Cook VIC
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 1 Service Flying Training School Oxford aircraft AS900), near Meredith VIC, 19 July 1943, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Springvale War Cemetery, Melbourne, Victoria
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John Irvine Crane and Alice Maud Crane, of Ivanhoe
Roll of Honour: Heidelberg VIC
Remembered: Panel 115, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 0850 hours on 19 July 1943, Oxfords AS900 and EB897 collided in the air during a formation training exercise and crashed near the Durdidwarrah Dam, seven miles east of Meredith, Victoria, and all four crew members were killed.
The crew members of AS900 were:
Leading Aircraftman Noel Irvine Crane (419848) (Trainee Pilot)
Leading Aircraftman David George Haig (34331) (Second Trainee Pilot)
The crew members of EB897 were:
Leading Aircraftman Alan Kenneth Goyne (428043) (Second Trainee Pilot)
Leading Aircraftman Albert Ian Gumley (418266) (Trainee Pilot)
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, 166/8/167A9845, 177;