LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Charles Edward CROFT
Service No: 401616
Born: Oakleigh VIC, 31 May 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 1 March 1941
Unit: No. 8 Elementary Flying Training School, Narrendera NSW
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 8 Service Flying Training School Tiger Moth aircraft A17-257), Narrendera, 9 May 1943, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Narrendera War Cemetery, NSW
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William John Leonard and Mabel Frances Croft, of East Kew, Victoria; husband of Sylvia Joyce Croft, of East Kew
Roll of Honour: Kew VIC
Remembered: Panel 115, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Narrandera Tiger Moth Memorial, Narrandera NSW
At 1440 hours on 9 March 1943, Tiger Moth aircraft A17-174 and A17-257 collided over the Cobbaguaila satellite airfield. All four crew members from both aircraft were killed. The crew members were:
A17-257
Flying Officer Charles Edward Croft (401616) (Instructor Pilot)
Leading Aircraftman Graham Murray Harding (423539) (Trainee Pilot)
A17-174
Flying Vincent Thomas Connellan (407571) (Instructor Pilot)
Leading Aircraftman Philip McLean Phillips (422979) (Trainee Pilot)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A9845, 87
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line
Bibliography:
Ilbery, P.L.T. (Peter Leslie Thomas) (422957) Hatching an Air Force: 2SFTS, 5SFTS, 1BFTS Uranquinty and Wagga Wagga, Banner Books Maryborough QLD 4650, 2002