LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant Reginald Alfred HAST
Service No: 401506
Born: Sydney NSW, 16 October 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 28 February 1941 (at Melbourne VIC)
Unit: No. 450 Squadron
Died: Air Operations: (No. 450 Squadron Kittyhawk aircraft FX796), Ravenna, Italy, 17 December 1944, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Ravenna War Cemetery, Italy
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Thomas Harold and Eunice Jessie Hast, of Caulfield, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 105, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 17 December 1944, Kittyhawk FX796 flown by Flight Lieutenant Hast was one of six aircraft detailed to attack a railroad bridge at Lugo, in Ravenna, Italy. The aircraft dive-bombed the target from 7,000 feet to 1,500 feet. It was believed that FX796 was hit by anti-aircraft fire at 5,000 feet when the aircraft caught fire and then crashed. Flight Lieutenant Hast did not attempt to bale out or call on the radio.
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, 166/17/907
Bibliography:
Winter, V.A. (Vincent Adams) (408547) 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