LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Frank DURKIN
Service No: 14855
Born: Armidale NSW, 26 July 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 29 April 1940
Unit: No. 1661 Conversion Unit (RAF), RAF Station Winthorpe
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 1661 Conversion Unit Lancaster aircraft ED823), Nottinghamshire, 10 April 1943, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Newark-upon-Trent Cemetery, Nottinghamshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of George and Henrietta Dunkin, of Armidale, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Armidale NSW
Remembered: Panel 121, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Ben Lomond War Memorial Hall, Ben Lomond NSW
On the morning of the 10 April 1943, Lancaster ED823 took off from Winthorpe for a night training exercise. Shortly after take-off the aircraft crashed at about 0125 hours after flying into high tension wires, off School Lane at the village of Halam, 11 miles from the centre of Nottingham. All on board were killed. The aircraft appeared to be in good flying order with its navigation lights on before the crash. The point of impact indicated the aircraft was straight and level and travelling at speed The crew were a student crew on their final training exercise before operations.
The crew members of ED823 were:
Sergeant Frank Dunkin (14855) (Fitter 2A/Flight Engineer)
Sergeant William Shearer Lindsay Graham (1345277) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Edward Lambert (127064) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Leonard Wentworth Lean (411919) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Raymond David Lewis (R/115799) (RCAF) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Henry Utley Oxspring (1087359) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant William George Stephenson (1231524) (RAFVR) (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 A705, 166/10/35
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line