LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Alan George GRAY
Service No: 5134
Born: Albert Park VIC, 23 March 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 15 July 1940
Unit: No. 1 Operational Training Unit
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 1 Operational Training Unit Hudson aircraft A16-89), near Bairnsdale VIC, 9 August 1942, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Coburg Pine Ridge Cemetery VIC
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Ulysses and Jessie Catherine Sinclair Gray, of Thornbury
Roll of Honour: Albert Park VIC
Remembered: Panel 123, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 9 August 1942, Hudson A16-89 crashed at 1115 hours seven miles south east of the Bairnsdale aerodrome and both crew members were killed. The aircraft was seen to dive at an angle of 35 degrees from a height of 2,000 feet during a circuit of the aerodrome. No apparent attempt was made to recover and on impact the aircraft burst into flames.
The crew members of A16-89 were:
Pilot Officer Alan George Gray (5134) (Pilot)
Aircraftman Class I Dennis Michael O’Loughlin (53849) (Aircraft Hand, Supernumerary)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/34/212; A705, 153/34/213; A9845, 135