LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant David Brian LARKINS
Service No: 409554
Born: Moe VIC, 11 February 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 12 September 1941
Unit: No. 3 Overseas Aircraft Delivery Unit (RAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 3 Overseas Aircraft Delivery Unit Wellington aircraft JA268), Atlantic Ocean, 22 January 1944, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Brian Lockwood Larkins and Lucie E. Larkins, of Gardenvale, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 261, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 125, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 0007 hours on 22 January 1944 Wellington JA268 departed Hurn Transit Flight for Rabat, Morocco, via the Scilly Isles and Finisterre. At 0130 hours on 22 January, RCAF operated Coastal Command Flying Fortress 9205 left its base in England via the same route, and at 0307 hours when approximately 145 miles due west of Brest, the Flying Fortress flying in cloud at 5,000 feet, collided with another aircraft. The Fortress managed to return to its base in the UK, with the white trimming tab and rudder of a Wellington aircraft wrapped around the leading edge of its port wing. There was no doubt that the Fortress had collided with JA268, as it was the only Wellington aircraft reported missing in that area at the time. In 1949 it was recorded that the missing crew members had lost their lives at sea.
The possible crew members of JA268 were:
Warrant Officer II Leonard Norman Fresque (R/125707) (RCAF) (2)
Flight Sergeant David Brian Larkins (409554) (Pilot) (1) (2)
Warrant Officer Thomas Joseph Mills (1250065) (RAFVR) (Navigator) (1) (2)
Flight Lieutenant William Jack Pershke (64940) (RAFVR) (2)
Sergeant Basil Stamper (1044457) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner) (1) (2)
(1) Shown on NAA Record
(2) Only Members recorded on Runnymede Memorial for 21-23 January 1944 not serving with a Squadron or Heavy Conversion Unit
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, 166/24/267