LEST WE FORGET
Warrant Officer Donald Bertram KAIRTON
Service No: 414694
Born: Newcastle, England, 23 August 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 8 November 1941 (at Brisbane QLD)
Unit: No. 19 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: The Build-up Period (No. 19 Squadron Mustang aircraft F882), France, 14 June 1944, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Le Gue-de-la Chaine Communal Cemetery, Orme, France.
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Wilfred and Evelyn Kairton, of Lithgow, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Babinda QLD
Remembered: Panel 125, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At about 0630 hours on 14 June 1944, Mustang F882 flown by Warrant Officer Kairton and flying as White No. 2 dive bombed at a very low altitude and then staffed an enemy armoured vehicle convoy. Almost immediately glycol was seen to come from the aircraft and it flew straight and level at about 500 feet until it caught fire and dived into the ground just north of the road and exploded, killing Warrant Officer Kairton.
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, 166/22/269