LEST WE FORGET
Squadron Leader Frederick James GILLESPIE
Service No: 407576
Born: Semaphore SA, 30 January 1914
Enlisted in the RAAF: 11 November 1940
Unit: No. 87 (Photographic Reconnaissance) Squadron, Coomalie NT
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 87 Squadron Mosquito aircraft A52-605), Coomalie, 5 August 1945, Aged 31 Years
Buried: Adelaide River War Cemetery, NT
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Thomas Stanley and Irene Stella Gillespie; husband of Hazel Gillespie, of Cheltenham, South Australia
Roll of Honour: Minnipa SA
Remembered: Panel 104, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
On takeoff from Coomalie at 0715 hours on 5 August 1945, Mosquito A52-605 swung to port, ran into a ditch which caused the undercarriage to collapse, and then travelled on and burst into flames, killing the pilot. The crew members were:
Squadron Leader Frederick James Gillespie (407576) (Pilot)
Flying Officer Frank Alexander Haymes (438623) (Navigator) Seriously injured, Discharged from the RAAF: 5 June 1946
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A9845, 153
Bibliography:
Vincent, D. (David) Mosquito Monograph: A history of Mosquitoes in Australia and RAAF operations, David Vincent Highbury SA 5089, 1982
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Beaufort, Beaufighter and Mosquito in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1990