LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Douglas Julius Irwin MacLEOD
Service No: 436836
Born: Perth WA, 14 January 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 8 May 1943
Unit: General Reconnaissance School, Bairnsdale VIC
Died: Aircraft Accident, (General Reconnaissance School Anson aircraft AX225), Rosedale VIC, 24 February 1945, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Bairnsdale War Cemetery, VIC
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Julius Farquar Wallace McLeod and Barbara Darley McLeod, of Claremont, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 116, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
The notorious Gippsland fog returned in force the next day (24 February 1945) to wreak havoc with the night flying program of No 1 Operational Training Unit and the General Reconnaissance School at Bairnsdale. Sixteen Avro Anson aircraft from the school were conducting night flying exercises and became lost between Morwell and Bairnsdale. Five Ansons crashed due to the weather and among the 60 aircrew airborne that evening, two men died.
Extract from Lax, M. (Mark) (editor) Always Ready: a history of RAAF East Sale, RAAF Publications Unit Melbourne VIC, 1993 – Page 41
Of the five Anson aircraft involved in major incidents, three – N4920, W2557 and DJ213 – made forced landings, DG 213 crashed at Bairnsdale killing Sergeant Morton Lawrence (10095) and AX 225 crashed at Rosedale killing Flight Sergeant Douglas Julius Irwin MacLeod (436836).
At 2359 hours on 24 February 1945, Avro Anson AX225 crashed 3 kms north west of Rosedale as the result of lack of fuel, extreme weather and fog. Before the crash, Flight Sergeant MacLeod had baled out at too low an altitude for his parachute to deploy. The crew members were:
Flight Sergeant George Spencer Liles (439770) Slightly Injured, Discharged from the RAF: 12 June 1946
Flight Sergeant Douglas Julius Irwin MacLeod (436836)
Sergeant Kevin Maurice Maloney (14431) (Pilot) Slightly Injured, Discharged from the RAAF: 8 August 1946
Pilot Officer Albert Milton Ward (431290) Slightly Injured, Discharged from the RAAF: 2 August 1945
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, 62