LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Robert James DOUGLAS
Service No: 426559
Born: Cairns QLD, 30 June 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 18 July 1942
Unit: No. 1660 Conversion Unit (RAF), RAF Station Swinderby
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 1660 Conversion Unit Stirling aircraft EE975), Yorkshire, 15 August 1944, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery, Yorkshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Francis Adrian and Dahlia Pearl Douglas, of Annerley, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Townsville QLD
Remembered: Panel 121, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 15 August 1944, Stirling EE975 took off from Swinderby for a night training exercise in the course of which both outer engines failed. As the bomber lost height, the crew were told to bale out. Five left the aircraft in good order at about 4,500 feet, but by the time the pilot and navigator made their exit, the bomber had dropped below the safety margin for their parachutes to fully deploy. Both were found on Firth Fell and they had lost their lives. Sergeant Davis was injured and the others uninjured.
The crew members of EE975 were:
Pilot Officer Donald MacFarlane Bowe (419550) (Pilot)
Sergeant C M Davies (1836609) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner) Injured
Flight Sergeant Robert James Douglas (426559) (Navigator)
Sergeant L R Frazer (1824356) (RAFVR) (First Engineer) Uninjured
Flight Sergeant George Ivan Maloney (424667) (Wireless Air Gunner) Uninjured, Discharged from the RAAF: 10 January 1946
Sergeant P G Nelson (3040117) (RAFVR) (Second Engineer) Uninjured
Flight Sergeant Cornelius Patrick O’Neil (429825) (Air Bomber) Uninjured, Discharged from the RAAF: 12 October 1945
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, 166/10/293