LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Peter Hamilton DAWSON
Service No: 12414
Born: Rockhampton QLD, 27 March 1914
Enlisted in the RAAF: 26 February 1940
Unit: No. 1 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit (RAF), RAF Station Silloth
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 1 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit Hudson aircraft AM676), Solway Firth, 25 August 1942, Aged 28 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Husband of N. V. Dawson, of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 112, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 121, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 25 August 1942 Hudson AM676 took off from Silloth on a bombing range exercise. At 1610 hours a message was received from the aircraft confirming that the bombs had been dropped. Soon after at 1620 hours it was reported that an aircraft had crashed in the sea beyond the bombing range into the Solway Firth. Air Sea Rescue searches recovered the bodies of the three RCAF crew members and the tunic of Sergeant Dawson.
The crew members of AM676 were:
Sergeant Alexander Cowie (1365623) (RAFVR)
Sergeant Peter Hamilton Dawson (12414) (Pilot)
Sergeant Robert Douglas McKenzie (R/85969) (RCAF)
Sergeant Harold Roy McMillan (R/90126) (RCAF)
Sergeant Ernest Lloyd Randall (R/92248) (RCAF)
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, 163/100/252