LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Allan Stewart JOHNSTON
Service No: 409125
Born: Beeac VIC, 30 January 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 19 July 1941
Unit: No. 1663 Conversion Unit (RAF), RAF Station Rufforth
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 1663 Conversion Unit Halifax aircraft EB134), Eire, 7 November 1943, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Irvinestown Church of Ireland Churchyard, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William Arras Johnston and Alexandrina Johnston, of Colac, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Ondit VIC
Remembered: Panel 124, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On the 7 November 1943, Halifax EB134 took off from Rufforth for a night non-operational training flight at the completion of which the crew were instructed to proceed to Marston Moor and land. This order was acknowledged but for some reason they never arrived. At 2243 hours, the look-out post at Flat Head, County Cork, in the Irish Republic heard the Halifax and, subsequently, its passage northwards was observed from various points. Then, at around 2350 hours, the flight ended in a ball of fire near Lavally, Barnaderg, some 6 miles north east from Tuan in County Galway, Eire. All seven bodies were recovered and handed over to the authorities in Northern Ireland.
The crew members of EB134 were:
Sergeant Edgar William Camp (1605423) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Robert Mair Clark (1051117) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Anthony Joseph Gallagher (410595) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Warrant Officer I Norman William Gardner (R/65741) (RCAF) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Allan Stewart Johnston (409125) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant George Hilton Sansome (423386) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Leslie Harold Wildman (1158064) (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, 166/21/91