LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant John Alexander HAY
Service No: 429152
Born: Bendigo VIC, 26 February 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 27 October 1942 (at Sydney NSW)
Unit: No. 21 Operational Training Unit (RAF), RAF Station Moreton-in-Marsh
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 21 Operational Training Unit Wellington aircraft BJ782), Barford St John, 9 December 1944, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Oxford (Botley) Cemetery, Oxfordshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Eric Alexander and Vera Eileen Hay, of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Melbourne VIC
Remembered: Panel 123, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1820 hours on the night of 9 December 1944, Wellington BJ782 took off from Moreton-in-
Marsh detailed to carry out night cross-country training. At some time prior to 2145 hours, the starboard engine caught fire at 5,000 feet. Unable to establish their precise position, the crew broadcast a number of distress calls and as a result were given a course that would take them to Barford St John. Eyewitnesses here saw the aircraft in the circuit, losing height, but as it entered the funnels the engine note increased as if the crew were intending too overshoot. However, after crossing the airfield, the aircraft dived suddenly and came down on a railway embankment on the east north east side of the aerodrome, near the village of Adderbury and burst into flames. Five of the crew members were killed and one was treated for shock at the station sick quarters.
The crew members of BJ782 were:
Sergeant Arthur Barker (1621971) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant James Hogg Bell (1537760) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Reginald George Clements (1875077) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant W H Donaldson (1597119) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner) Injured, Suffered shock
Flight Sergeant John Alexander Hay (429152) (Pilot)
Sergeant William Robinson (3012168) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
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, 166/17/894