LEST WE FORGET
Warrant Officer Jack William LANGLEY
Service No: 425027
Born: Rockhampton QLD, 9 May 1915
Enlisted in the RAAF: 7 December 1941
Unit: No. 70 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 70 Squadron Wellington aircraft LP566), Italy, 12 October 1944, Aged 29 Years
Buried: Padua War Cemetery, Italy
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Elsie Elizabeth Langley, of Shorncliffe, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 125, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Wellington LP566 took off from Tortorella landing ground, southern Italy, on the night of 11/12 October 1944, detailed to carry out an operational sortie to Verona, Italy. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. In 1949 a Missing Research & Enquiry team reported “the aircraft crashed near Dossobuone in northern Italy, between Mantua and Verona. It dived into the ground and exploded and all the crew members were killed.”
The crew members of LP566 were:
Sergeant James Crosbie (1670507) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Robert Paul Duncombe (1606014) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Anthony Dennis Etheridge (1587771) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Warrant Jack William Langley (425027) (Navigator)
Pilot Officer Alexander Charles Ernest McIntosh (423843) (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, 166/24/556