LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Robert Hugh GILLIAN
Service No: 37399
Born: Penrith NSW, 1 January 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 17 June 1941
Unit: No. 1 (Observer) Advance Flying Unit (RAF), RAF Station Wigtown
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 1 (Observer) Advance Flying Unit Anson aircraft LV153), Northern Ireland, 6 March 1945, Aged 27 Years
Buried: Limavady (St Mary) Roman Catholic Church Cemetery, Londonderry, Northern Ireland
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Alexander Joseph and Eleanor Grace Gillian, of Bondi, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Bondi NSW
Remembered: Panel 122, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Waverley Soldier’s Memorial 1914 – 1918, Bondi NSW
At 2130 hours on the night of 5 March 1945, Anson L153 took off from Wigtown to carry out a non- operational night navigation exercise. At 0030 hours the aircraft crashed into the Sperrin Mountains just south of Londonderry, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Four of the crew members were killed and one was seriously injured.
The crew members of LV153 were:
Sergeant Richard Arthur Button (3041475) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Robert Hugh Gilllian (37399) (Navigator)
Pilot Officer Ian Lachlan MacFadyen (J/36483) (RCAF) (Pilot)
Warrant Officer Jack Pennack (1292351) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant T M D Shaxson (1894037) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber) Seriously injured
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, 166/15/434
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line