LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Gordon Douglas MacPHERSON
Service No: 403484
Born: Sydney NSW, 8 August 1914
Enlisted in the RAAF: 1 February 1941
Unit: No. 450 Squadron
Died: Air Operations: (No. 450 Squadron Kittyhawk aircraft), near Gambut Egypt, 5 April 1942, Aged 27 Years
Buried: Halfaya Sollum War Cemetery, Egypt
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Herbert Alexander and Gladys Macpherson, of Lane Cove, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Sydney NSW
Remembered: Panel 105, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Australia Remembers 1945-1995 Memorial, Lane Cove NSW
On 5 April 1942, a Kittyhawk aircraft flown by Flying Officer MacPherson took off from Gambut Main aerodrome together with five other aircraft to intercept enemy ME109 aircraft. The six aircraft dive bombed after take-off and were subject to anti-aircraft fire. In the opinion of other pilots in the operation the aircraft were not damaged by the enemy action. Flying Officer MacPherson appeared to lose control of his aircraft and it dived vertically into the ground bursting into flames. A few minutes later earlier Flying Officer John Ward Evatt (430582) had lost his life in similar circumstances. It was the first operational mission for both pilots.
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, 166/30/54
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line