LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Mervyn Cobbe CROMBIE
Service No: 404172
Born: Brisbane QLD, 26 May 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 21 June 1940
Unit: No. 70 Operational Training Unit (RAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 70 Operational Training Unit Blenheim aircraft L4830), Egypt, 12 June 1941, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Ismailia War Memorial Cemetery, Egypt
CWGC Additional Information: Son of David William Alexander and Phoebe Janet Crombie, of Warwick, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Warwick QLD
Remembered: Panel 120, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Brother of Squadron Leader Charles Arbuthnot Crombie DSO DFC (404099)
On 12 June 1941, Blenheim L4830 flown by Sergeant Crombie crashed at Ismailia aerodrome, Egypt, and he was killed. The aircraft took off on a solo flight, and the engines were not running perfectly. It climbed away quickly in a left hand turn, and having completed about 180 degrees of turn, at about 200 feet, the aircraft lost height and crashed. The aircraft seemed to climb at too steep an angle.
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, 163/98/253
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