LEST WE FORGET
Wing Commander Basil HOWARD DFC
Service No: 404787
Born: Seven Hills NSW, 6 July 1915
Enlisted in the RAAF: 8 November 1940 (at Brisbane QLD)
Unit: No. 456 Squadron
Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), 9 February 1945
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 456 Squadron Mosquito aircraft NT264), Essex, 29 May 1945, Aged 29 Years
Buried: Brookwood Military Cemetery, Surrey, UK
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Albert and Diana Etty Howard, of Seven Hills, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Seven Hills NSW
Remembered: Panel 106, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
DFC Citation: “Wing Commander Howard has completed a very large number of sorties, setting a fine example of devotion to duty throughout. He has destroyed three enemy aircraft at night, successes which are a good tribute to his undoubted skill and resolution. In addition to his work in the air, Wing Commander Howard has rendered yeoman service in training other members of his formation.” (London Gazette 9 February 1945, Page 817)
During a solo non-operational day flight on the 29 May 1945, Mosquito NT264 crashed at 1535 hours in Blackwater off Bradwell Bay airfield, Essex, and Wing Commander Howard flying solo was killed. He had made a single engine landing, and went around again. In trying to gain height the other engine failed and the aircraft ditched in Blackwater.
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, 1166/18/754