LEST WE FORGET

Flying Officer John Ward EVATT

Service No: 403582
Born: Sydney NSW, 6 July 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 3 February 1941
Unit: No. 450 Squadron
Died: Air Operations: (No. 450 Squadron Kittyhawk aircraft AK895), near Gambut Egypt, 5 April 1942, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Halfaya Sollum War Cemetery, Egypt
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John Ashmore Gray Evatt and Octavia Grace Evatt, of Wollstonecraft, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: North Sydney NSW
Remembered: Panel 105, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Commonwealth Bank of Australia Honour Rolls, Sydney NSW

On 5 April 1942, Kittyhawk AK895 flown by Flying Officer Evatt took off from Gambut Main aerodrome together with five other aircraft to intercept enemy ME109 aircraft. The six aircraft dive bombed after take-off and were subject to anti-aircraft fire. In the opinion of other pilots in the operation the aircraft were not damaged by the enemy action. AK895 was seen to start spinning from 7,000 feet; it then levelled out, and then dived vertically into the ground bursting into flames. A few minutes later Flying Officer Gordon Douglas MacPherson (403484) lost his life in similar circumstances. It was the first operational mission for both pilots.

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, 166/30/54
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line

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