LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant Arnold William DOWSETT
Service No: 403862
Born: Roseville NSW, 31 May 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 4 March 1941
Unit: No. 228 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Pembroke Dock
Died: Air Operations: (No. 228 Squadron Sunderland aircraft JM709), Bay of Biscay area, 6 January 1944, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Samuel Bailey Dowsett and Mabel Dowsett, of Roseville, New South Wales, Australia. B.Ec. (Sydney)
Roll of Honour: Roseville NSW
Remembered: Panel 256, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 121, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Ku-ring-gai World War II Book of Remembrance, Gordon NSW
Remembered: Roseville War Memorial, Roseville NSW
At 0537 hours on 6 January 1944 Sunderland JM709 took off from Pembroke Dock to carry out an anti-submarine patrol in the Bay of Biscay. There was no messages received from the aircraft after take-off, and it failed to return to base. It was assumed that the aircraft and crew were lost at sea.
The crew members of JM709 were:
Squadron Leader Henry Ronald Bailey DFC & Bar (48547) (RAF) (Pilot)
Pilot Officer Alexander William Cherrie (55061) (RAFVR) (Third Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Alexander Taylor Coutts MID (553792) (RAF) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Flight Lieutenant Arnold William Dowsett (403862) (Second Pilot)
Warrant Officer David Boyd Finlay (640578) (RAF) (Wireless Operator/Air)
Flight Sergeant Jack Freedman (1338368) (RAFVR) (Aircraft Hand/Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Sergeant Frank Wolfgang Kaufman (171359) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator/Air)
Flight Lieutenant Henry Morton DFM (47899) (RAF) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Flight Sergeant Donald Charles Jack McLean (1386302) (RAFVR) (Aircraft Hand/Air Gunner)
Sergeant Alan Watson (1699815) (RAFVR) (Fitter Mechanic/Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Harold John Wilkinson (652373) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
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, 166/10/164
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line