LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer James Ian KIDGELL
Service No: 410499
Born: Wangaratta VIC, 4 March 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 30 January 1942
Unit: No. 190 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 190 Squadron Stirling aircraft LK267), Essex, 21 November 1944, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Brookwood Military Cemetery, Surrey
CWGC Additional Information: Son of James Ernest and Constance Mabel Kidgell, of Moyhu, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Wangaratta VIC
Remembered: Panel 125, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 21 November 1944, Stirling LK267 was carrying out non-operational night glider towing and was engaged in night circuits and landing with a Horsa glider. At about 2108 hours the glider was released and landed safely. At about 2117 hours LK267 dropped its towrope and at 2113 hours requested permission to land. The aircraft was told to stand by, and nothing further was heard from the aircraft. The aircraft crashed at about 2120 hours at Newton Field, Great Dunmow, Essex. Six of the crew members were killed and one died later in hospital of his injuries. The aircraft hit the ground in practically level flight with all four engines and airscrews under power. It crashed into a bank and exploded on impact.
The crew members of LK267 were:
Flying Officer William Walter D’arcy Brain (42365) (RNZAF) (Second Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Reginald Matthew Dauncey (1431216) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Hugh Holt (2209061) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flying Officer James Ian Kidgell (410499) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Ronald David Payne (1391069) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Flight Sergeant Arthur George Reid (1800613) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner) Fatally injured
Pilot Officer Ernest Douglas Woods (176742) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
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, 166/22/369