LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer John Douglas HAY
Service No: 408066
Born: Hobart TAS 29 December 1916
Enlisted in the RAAF: 12 September 1940
Unit: No. 34 Squadron (RAF), Baigachi, India
Died: Air Operations (No. 34 Squadron Blenheim aircraft Z7705), Burma, 10 November 1942, Aged 25 Years
Buried: At Sea
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John and Isabel Hay, of Armadale, Victoria, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Hobart TAS
Remembered: Column 421, Singapore Memorial, Singapore
Remembered: Panel 123, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Brother of Sergeant Phillip Carlisle Hay (408105)
Blenheim Z7705 of 34 Squadron took off from RAF Station Baigachi on 10 November 1942, to participate in operations against the enemy. The aircraft which was shot down by enemy fighters was last seen lying in the sea approximately 8 miles north-west of Akyab, Burma, with all members of the crew swimming nearby.
On 18 November 1942, information was received from the Naval Officer in Charge (NOIC) Calcutta, that an RAF dinghy had been picked up containing the body of Flying Officer Hay and two life belts, but that no trace of the other two members of the crew were found. The position of the dinghy was 21.07N 090.11E. Flying Officer Hay was buried at sea.
The three crew members of Z7705 were:
Flying Officer John Douglas Hay (408066) (Observer)
Flying Officer Alexander Maxwell Howe (406249) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Thomas Geoffrey Lishman (50512) (RAF) (Wireless Operator 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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/35/229