LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Maurice Joseph DALY
Service No: 404173
Born: Charters Towers QLD, 12 July 1915
Enlisted in the RAAF: 21 June 1940
Unit: No. 86 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident: (No. 86 Squadron Beaufort aircraft AW345), Scotland, 28 May 1942, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Wick Cemetery, Caithness-shire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William Bartholomew Daly and Cecilia Daly, of Dalby, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Dalby QLD
Remembered: Panel 121, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 28th May 1942, Beaufort AW345 flown by Flight Sergeant Daly, hit an unlit radio mast and crashed at Thrumster, Caithness, Scotland. The aircraft was returning to Wick in poor visibility and the collision tore a wing off the aircraft and removed the top 50 feet of the 320 feet high mast. All four crew members were killed in the crash.
The crew members of AW345 were:
Flight Sergeant Maurice Joseph Daly (404173) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Ronald Dunn (742622) (Observer)
Sergeant John Henry Stone (137533) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Frederick George White (1253366) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
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 A9301, 404173
Operations Record Book – Headquarters No. 70 Wing