LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer James Edgar Gerrard FAWCETT
Service No: 425292
Born: Glasgow, Scotland, 21 October 1916
Enlisted in the RAAF: 1 February 1942 (at Brisbane QLD)
Unit: No. 10 Elementary Flying Training School, Temora NSW
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 10 Elementary Flying Training School Tiger Moth aircraft A17-435), near Temora, 27 September 1943, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Temora General Cemetery, NSW
CWGC Additional Information: Son of James Edward and Sarah Fawcett; husband of Aileen Clare Fawcett, of Hill End, Queensland
Roll of Honour: Brisbane QLD
Remembered: Panel 115, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
During an instructional flight on 27 September 1943, Tiger Moth A17-435 crashed at 1530 hours, seven miles north east of the Temora aerodrome and Flying Officer Fawcett was killed. It as considered that a probable cause of the crash was that the aircraft was caught in very severe turbulence and a down draft on the windward side of a hill.
The crew members of A17-435 were:
Flying Officer James Edgar Gerrard Fawcett (425292) (Instructor Pilot)
Leading Aircraftman Stephen Charles Sneesby (433667) (Trainee Pilot) Slightly Injured, Discharged from the RAAF: 22 January 1946
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, 166/13/135; A9945, 44