LEST WE FORGET
Second Lieutenant Cecil Charles LEWIS
Service No: 5626
Born: Mansfield VIC, December 1896
Enlisted in the Army: 6 May 1916
Unit: No. 6 (Training) Squadron, Australian Flying Corps
Died: Aircraft Accident, England, 14 August 1918, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Leighterton Church Cemetery, Leighterton, Gloucestershire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Joseph and Elizabeth Lewis, of “Thistlebrook,” Moyhu, Victoria
Place of Association: Moyhu VIC
Remembered: Panel 188, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 14 August 1918, Second Lieutenant Lewis flying solo was killed in the crash of Sopwith Scout aircraft B/7506 at Minchinhampton Aerodrome. The aircraft was being dived steeply over the hangars from 500 to 600 feet and flattening out near the ground; on the third dive, which was very steep, the aircraft did not pull out. The Court of Enquiry concluded that the accident was caused by an error of judgment on the part of the pilot in that when diving he did not allow sufficient margin before attempting to pull the machine out of a dive. The machine crashed to earth.
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record B2455, LEWIS CECIL CHARLES