LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant John Stewart MACKIE
Service No: 403673
Born: Adamstown NSW, 8 November 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 3 February 1941
Unit: No. 233 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station North Front, Gibraltar
Died: Air Operations: (No. 233 Squadron Hudson aircraft FH350), near Gibraltar, 24 April 1943, Aged 22 Years
Buried: At Sea
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Thomas and Elizabeth Mackie, of Adamstown, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Gibraltar Memorial, Gibraltar
Remembered: Panel 126, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Newcastle Boys High School Memorial Entrance World War II, Waratah NSW
On 24th April 1943 Hudson FH350 took off from North Front detailed to carry out a day operational Air Sea Rescue. The aircraft crashed into the sea in perfect weather conditions. It was plotted 36 miles from base when returning from the patrol and the plot then faded. The position of the crash was 36.07N 004.42W. All the crew members lost their lives.
The crew members of FH350 were:
Flying Officer Ian Browning Brown (124880) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant John Stewart Mackie (403673) (Pilot)
Warrant Officer I John McKinnon Main (R/60602) (RCAF) (Navigator)
Sergeant William Barrie McCallum (1113769) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant James Clark Wilkie Thomson (1112044) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Mackie, Warrant Officer Main and Sergeant McCallum were buried at sea. Their names are commemorated on the Gibraltar Memorial. Flying Officer Brown and Sergeant Thomson have no known graves and their names are commemorated on the Memorial to the Missing, Runnymede, UK.
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, 166/26/103
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line