LEST WE FORGET
Leading Aircraftman Joseph William LITLEJOHN
Service No: 420217
Born: Annandale NSW, 6 June 1917
Enlisted in the RAAF: 11 October 1941
Unit: No. 14 Service Flying Training School (RCAF), Aylmer, Ontario
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 14 Service Flying Training School Harvard aircraft 3269), Ontario, 13 July 1942, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Aylmer Cemetery, Ontario
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Walter and Mary Elizabeth Littlejohn; foster-son of William J. Copes, of Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Sydney NSW
Remembered: Panel 133, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 13 July 1942, Harvard Mk2 3269 being flown by Pilot Officer Hughes and Leading Aircraftman Littlejohn was engaged in practising spins. The aircraft was seen to spin from a height of 7,000 feet without recovery until it was at a very low altitude of about 1,000 feet, from which height it crashed directly into the ground. The aircraft crashed at 0939 hours, one mile west of the main aerodrome at Aylmer and both crew members were killed.
The crew members of Harvard 3269 were:
Pilot Officer Bryan Donald Hughes (J/10765) (RCAF) (Instructor Pilot)
Leading Aircraftman Joseph William Littlejohn (420217) (Student 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, 163/138/103; A705, 32/4/96