LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant George Henderson GRAY
Service No: 413373
Born: Melbourne VIC, 5 September 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 17 August 1941
Unit: No. 27 Operational Training Unit (RAF), RAF Lichfield, Staffordshire
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 27 Operational Training Unit Wellington aircraft BJ672), North Sea, 14 June 1943, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of George James Gray and Hilary Arline Gray, of Chatswood, New South Wales, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Sydney NSW
Remembered: Panel 192, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey
Remembered: Panel 123, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Wellington BJ672 of No 27 Operational Training Unit RAF took off from RAF Station Lichfield at 1136 hours on a non-operational flight over the North Sea on 14 June 1943. Communications were received from the aircraft at 1141 hours and 1224 hours when the aircraft was near Boston, Lincolnshire on the outward journey. No other messages were received and BJ 672 failed to return to base. Following post war enquiries and investigations, it was recorded in 1949 that the missing crew had lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of BJ672 were:
Flight Sergeant George Henderson Gray (413373) (Observer)
Flight Sergeant Ronald McLennan Grieve (410327) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Sergeant Jack Stuart Lee (421602) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Victor Carl McQuade (412024) (Observer)
Flight Sergeant William David Weir (15851) (Pilot)
No. 27 Operational Training Unit lost Wellington BK843 (Flight Sergeant Edmund Geoffrey Holden (406977) (Pilot)) on 14 June 1943.
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, 166/16/103