LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Gordon Reid FERGUSON
Service No: 402771
Born: Sydney NSW, 16 December 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 14 October 1940
Unit: No. 148 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 148 Squadron Wellington aircraft ES990), Benghazi, 22 June 1942, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William Reid Ferguson and Louisa Benson Ferguson, of Belmore, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Belmore NSW
Remembered: Column 265, Alamein Memorial, Egypt
Remembered: Panel 122, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 0005 hours on 22 June 1942 Wellington ES990 took off to bomb Benghazi. The aircraft failed to return to base from this mission. Two aircraft operating at the same time over the target reported seeing one aircraft hit by anti-aircraft fire and descend in flames but under control to about 2,000 feet, when it fell and exploded on impact when it hit the ground. One crew member was able to leave the aircraft and was taken prisoner. Following post war enquiries and searches, it was recorded in 1948 that the missing members of the crew had no known graves.
The crew members of ES990 were:
Flight Sergeant George Booth (404052) (RNZAF) (Second Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Donald William Cross (405369) (RNZAF) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Gordon Reid Ferguson (402771) (First Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Wing Commander Douglas Andrew Kerr DSO (33264) (RAF) (Pilot)
Sergeant Leonard Moreley Washer (1336078) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Pilot Officer F W A Westcott (10921) (RAF) (Second Pilot) PoW
Pilot Officer Westcott later made this statement “I am not able to give any definite information about the rest of the crew. I was blown from the aircraft and taken to hospital unconscious. He later heard that 5 bodies had been found in the wreck of the aircraft, but could obtain no confirmation of the report.”
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, 163/111/48