LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Ian Forbes LILLIE
Service No: 401519
Born: Canterbury VIC, 29 November 1914
Enlisted in the RAAF: 28 February 1941
Unit: No. 21 Service Flying Training School (SRAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 21 Service Flying Training School Oxford aircraft AR788), near Bulawayo, 28 November 1941, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Bulawayo (Athlone) Cemetery, Zimbabwe
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John and Stella Notman Lillie, of Canterbury, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Camberwell VIC
Remembered: Panel 134, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
When carrying out a solo practice flight on 28 November 1941, Oxford AR788 crashed and Sergeant Lille, the pilot under training, was killed. It was considered that the accident was due to his disregard of specific instructions relating to the height at which a dummy run before a precautionary landing should be made. He appeared to be carrying out his run well below tree top height, and to have seen the tree which he hit too late for avoiding action to be taken. The starboard wing struck the upper branches. It appeared that the flaps were retracted and this was an additional incorrect procedure.
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, 163/138/59
Bibliography:
Winter, V.A. (Vincent Adams) Noble Six Hundred: the story of the Empire Air Training Scheme with special reference to Australians who trained in Southern Rhodesia, V.A. Winter Brighton VIC 3186, 1982