LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Colin Angel FRASER
Service No: 416115
Born: Balaklava SA, 10 January 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 29 March 1941
Unit: No. 46 Squadron (RAF), Idku, Egypt
Died: Aircraft Accident (Beaufighter aircraft X7707), Egypt, 18 September 1942, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Alexandria (Hadra) War Memorial Cemetery, Egypt
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William and Eva Florence Fraser; husband of Iris Ruby Fraser, of Glenelg, South Australia.
Roll of Honour: Prospect SA
Remembered: Panel 122, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
Beaufighter X7707 crashed at Kafrel el-Dauwar, Egypt, at 1930 hours on 18 September 1942. All five on board were killed in the aircraft accident. A subsequent Court of Inquiry found that the cause of the crash was that both engines failed, and the stern frame separated from the fuselage when the pilot attempted to pull out of a spin and the plane crashed to the ground. The court did not attribute any blame to the pilot. It also did not consider there is any reason why 5 persons should not be carried in a Beaufighter at the same time.
The crew members of X7707 were:
Flying Officer Berkeley Day Holme-Sumner (102155) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant Gordon Naylor (1017142) (RAFVR) (Navigator/Radio)
and the passengers were:
Pilot Officer Colin Angel Fraser (416115) (Pilot, No. 46 Squadron RAF)
Squadron Leader the Reverend John Farrar Sutcliffe (38039) (RAFVR) (Chaplain RAF Headquarters Middle East)
Flight Lieutenant the Honourable George William Rodney (61384) (RAFVR) (Administrative & Special Duties, No. 7 Squadron RAF)
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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/32/135