LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Anthony Joseph GALLAGHER
Service No: 410595
Born: 3 February 1923, location unavailable
Enlisted in the RAAF: 30 January 1942
Unit: No. 1663 Conversion Unit (RAF), RAF Station Rufforth
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 1663 Conversion Unit Halifax aircraft EB134), Eire, 7 November 1943, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Irvinestown (Sacred Heart) Roman Catholic Churchyard, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland
CWGC Additional Information: Son of James Daniel and Margaret Ellen Gallagher, of Nathalia, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Nathalia VIC
Remembered: Panel 122, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On the 7 November 1943, Halifax EB134 took off from Rufforth for a night non-operational training flight at the completion of which the crew were instructed to proceed to Marston Moor and land. This order was acknowledged but for some reason they never arrived. At 2243 hours, the look-out post at Flat Head, County Cork, in the Irish Republic heard the Halifax and, subsequently, its passage northwards was observed from various points. Then, at around 2350 hours, the flight ended in a ball of fire near Lavally, Barnaderg, some 6 miles north east from Tuan in County Galway, Eire. All seven bodies were recovered and handed over to the authorities in Northern Ireland.
The crew members of EB134 were:
Sergeant Edgar William Camp (1605423) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Robert Mair Clark (1051117) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Anthony Joseph Gallagher (410595) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Warrant Officer I Norman William Gardner (R/65741) (RCAF) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Allan Stewart Johnston (409125) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant George Hilton Sansome (423386) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Leslie Harold Wildman (1158064) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
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, 166/15/135