LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Arthur Peter Roy HARGRAVE
Service No: 402302
Born: North Adelaide SA, 19 October 1917
Enlisted in the RAAF: 19 August 1940 (at Sydney NSW)
Unit: No. 27 Operational Training Unit (RAF), RAF Valley, Anglesey, Wales
Died: Air Operations (No. 27 Operational Training Unit Wellington aircraft X9862), Irish Sea, 25 February 1942, Aged 24 years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Arthur Albert and Ruby Trix Hargrave, of Killara, New South Wales, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Sydney NSW
Remembered: Panel 112, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 123, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Wellington X9682 of No 27 Operational Training Unit took off from RAF Valley at night on 25 February 1942, on a cross country training flight. The aircraft was last heard from in the vicinity of Squires Gate, Wales, at 2256 hours when an SOS message was received over the Irish Sea between Valley and Liverpool. The aircraft did not return to base, and subsequent air/sea rescue searches found no trace of the missing aircraft or crew. Following post war enquiries and investigations, it was recorded in 1948 that the missing crew had lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of X9682 were:
Sergeant Dudley Harnett Dyson (406351) (Pilot)
Sergeant Arthur Peter Roy Hargrave (402302) (Observer)
Sergeant Roy Gordon Hawkins (403788) (RNZAF) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Raymond Corlett Madge (407946) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Sidney John Rex Parsons (404598) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Sergeant Colin Geoffrey Veal (406335) (Second 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, 163/120/384