LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Donald Edward JOHNSTON
Service No: 412550
Born: Henley Beach SA, 26 August 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 19 July 1941 (at Sydney NSW)
Unit: No. 616 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 616 Squadron Spitfire aircraft ND136), Sussex, 1 April 1944, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Brookwood Military Cemetery, Surrey
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John Younger Johnston and Ethel Amelia Johnston, of Randwick, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Adelaide SA
Remembered: Panel 124, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Gordon Public School Rolls of Honor, Gordon NSW
On 1 April 1944, Spitfire ND136 was returning from a day operational patrol when it crashed at 1346 hours about 18 miles north-west of Brighton at Wiggin Holt, Sussex. The aircraft disintegrated in the air and wreckage was spread over a wide area and Flight Sergeant Johnston was killed.
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, 166/21/141
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line