LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant James Alexander JOHNSON
Service No: 20044
Born: Casino NSW, 3 August 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 13 May 1940
Unit: No. 464 Squadron
Died: Aircraft Accident, (No. 464 Squadron Ventura aircraft AE688), North Wales, 18 August 1943, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Chester (Blacon) Cemetery, Cheshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Douglas and Louisa Jane Johnston, of Yelgun, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: South Grafton NSW
Remembered: Panel 109, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Ventura AE688 from 464 Squadron took off from RAF Sculthorpe on 18 August 1943 to carry out a night flying training exercise, during which the aircraft crashed into a hillside at Llandwrog in Wales and all four crew members were killed. The aircraft was considerably off course at the time but the cause of the crash was unknown.
The crew members of AE688 were:
Flight Sergeant Eloi Joseph Emile Beaudry (R/115650) (RCAF) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Archibald Sidney Clegg (R/169854) (RCAF) (Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Lawrence Fullerton (J/21048) (RCAF) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant James Alexander Johnston (20044) (Pilot)
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, 166/21/55
Bibliography:
Lax, M. (Mark) and Leon Kane-Maguire The Gestapo Hunters: 464 Squadron RAAF 1942-5, Banner Books Maryborough QLD 4650, 1999