LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Eric James LOVELL
Service No: 429977
Born: Adelaide SA, 14 May 1911
Enlisted in the RAAF: 10 October 1942
Unit: No. 6 Operational Training Unit, Jervis Bay ACT
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 6 Operational Training Unit Beaufort aircraft A9-96), Jervis Bay, 11 January 1944, Aged 32 Years
Buried: Nowra War Cemetery, NSW
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John and Lilian Lovell; husband of Evelyn May Lovell, of Kent Town, South Australia
Roll of Honour: Adelaide SA
Remembered: Panel 112, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
On 11 January 1944, A9-96 crashed in Jervis Bay while conducting a low flying formation exercise. The aircraft lost its position in the formation and its port wing dipped and struck the sea while it was trying to regain position. Three crew members were killed. The crew members of A9-96 were:
Sergeant Peter Keith Bone (419943) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner) Injured, Discharged from the RAAF: 3 November 1944
Flying Officer Frank Kingsley Hughes (411144) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Eric James Lovell (429977) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Flying Officer James Taylor (422787) (Navigator)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A9845, 243
Bibliography:
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Beaufort, Beaufighter and Mosquito in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1990