LEST WE FORGET
Warrant Officer Ernest Roy LUMSDAINE
Service No: 402372
Born: Bedfordshire, England, 8 January 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 19 August 1940 (at Sydney NSW)
Unit: No. 464 Squadron
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 464 Squadron Mosquito aircraft LR259), Oxfordshire, 6 January 1944, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Oxford (Botley) Cemetery, Oxfordshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Russell Robberds Lumsdaine and Rose Victoria Lumsdaine, of Harbord, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Manly NSW
Remembered: Panel 109, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Manly ANZAC War Memorial, Manly NSW
Warrant Officer Lumsdaine was slightly injured in the loss of Hampden L4110 on 8 March 1942 in which Sergeant Allan Harold Hanson (404584) was killed.
Mosquito LR259 took off from RAF Hunsdon on 6 January 1944 to carry out a day non operational training flight. When low flying over Chipping Warden airfield the aircraft touched the ground hit a hangar and crashed at 1445 hours about 10 kms north east of Banbury. In a subsequent report on the crash it was recorded “this is a case of gross disobedience of flying orders resulting in the loss of 2 lives, an aircraft and damage to service property. All pilots are aware of the penalties following low flying accidents.”
The crew members of LR259 were:
Warrant Officer Ernest Royce Lumsdaine (402372) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Pilot Officer Kenneth Royce Russell (415023) (RNZAF) (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, 163/140/70
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line
Bibliography:
Lax, M. (Mark) and Leon Kane-Maguire The Gestapo Hunters: 464 Squadron RAAF 1942-5, Banner Books Maryborough QLD 4650, 1999
Vincent, D. (David) Mosquito Monograph: A history of Mosquitoes in Australia and RAAF operations, David Vincent Highbury SA 5089, 1982