LEST WE FORGET
Leading Aircraftman Gordon Russell GOSDEN
Service No: 406843
Born: Sydney NSW, 3 December 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 28 April 1941 (at Perth WA)
Unit: No. 22 Service Flying Training School (RAF, Southern Rhodesia), Thornhill, Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe)
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 22 SFTS Harvard aircraft N 7063), Rhodesia, 1 July 1942, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Gweru Cemetery, Zimbabwe
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John George and Charlotte Gosden, of Subiaco, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Perth WA
Remembered: Panel 134, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
On the 1st July 1942, Harvard A611 took off from 22 SFTS Thornhill, detailed to carry out formation flying with four other aircraft near Guinea Fowl, Rhodesia. When flying at a height of 3,000 feet, A611 collided with aircraft N7063 and both aircraft crashed to the ground at 0715 hours, four miles north west of Guinea Fowl. Both pilots were killed.
Pilot: A611
Leading Aircraftman Michael Courthope Haynes (406861) (Trainee Pilot)
Pilot: N7063
Leading Aircraftman Gordon Russell Gosden (406843) (Trainee 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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/118/377
Bibliography:
Winter, V.A. (Vincent Adams) Noble Six Hundred: the story of the Empire Air Training Scheme with special reference to Australians who trained in Southern Rhodesia, V.A. Winter Brighton VIC 3186, 1982