LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Alexander Maxwell HOWE
Service No: 406249
Born: Swanbourne WA, 24 January 1916
Enlisted in the RAAF: 7 October 1940
Unit: No. 34 Squadron (RAF), Baigachi, India
Died: Air Operations: (No. 34 Squadron Blenheim aircraft Z7705), Burma, 10 November 1942, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Alexander Maxwell Howe and Jessie Howe; husband of Patricia Lillian Howe, of Perth, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Claremont WA
Remembered: Column 421, Singapore Memorial, Singapore
Remembered: Panel 124, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
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, 163/36/217