LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Ivor Russell Le MAISTRE
Service No: 430177
Born: Brighton VIC, 18 November 1924
Enlisted in the RAAF: 1 January 1943
Unit: No. 5 Operational Training Unit
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 5 Operational Training Beaufighter aircraft A19-5), Williamtown, 13 December 1944, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Newcastle (Sandgate) War Cemetery, NSW
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Colonel Frank William LeMaistre, D.S.O., and Vera Dale LeMaistre, of Burwood, Victoria
Roll of Honour: Camberwell VIC
Remembered: Panel 122, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
During a night solo non-operational training flight on 13 December 1944, Beaufighter A19-5 flown by Flight Sergeant LeMaistre crashed at 2151 hours one mile north of the Williamtown aerodrome and he was killed. During the flight of one hour, he was required to make two landings and when approaching the flare path to make one of those landings the aircraft hit some trees and crashed.
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/24/625; A9845, 11
Bibliography:
Parnell, N.M. (Neville M.) Whispering Death: A history of the RAAF’s Beaufighter Squadrons, AH & AW Reed, Terry Hills NSW, 1980
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Beaufort, Beaufighter and Mosquito in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1990