LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Bryan Edmund Richard FITZGERALD
Service No: 400169
Born: Mornington VIC, 23 April 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 23 June 1940
Unit: No. 39 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 39 Squadron Maryland aircraft AH297), off the North African Coast, 29 July 1941, Aged 21 Years
Buried: El Alamein War Cemetery, Egypt
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Michael Edmund and Mary Monica Fitzgerald, of Ingliston, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Ballan VIC
Remembered: Panel 122, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 29 July 1941 Maryland AH297 was detailed to carry out a photo reconnaissance of Western Crete. The aircraft took off at 1430 hours for an estimated flight of 4 hours, but nothing was heard from the aircraft and it failed to return to base. Subsequent searches found the bodies of all the crew members.
The crew members of AH297 were:
Flying Officer Victor Leo Dearman (402049) (Observer)
Flight Sergeant Henry Thomas Downs (535924) (RAF) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Bryan Edmund Richard Fitzgerald (400169) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Lieutenant Richard Anthony Lewis DFC (40545) (RAF) (Pilot)
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, 163/112/65