LEST WE FORGET

Sergeant Raymond Corlett MADGE

Service No: 407946
Born: Parkside SA, 13 July 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 3 February 1941
Unit: No. 27 Operational Training Unit (RAF), RAF Valley, Anglesey, Wales
Died: Air Operations (No. 27 Operational Training Unit Wellington aircraft X9862), Irish Sea, 25 February 1942, Aged 23 years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Archibald Herbert Corlett Madge and Hilda Madge, of Adelaide, South Australia.
Roll of Honour: Adelaide SA
Remembered: Panel 113, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey
Remembered: Panel 126, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide

Wellington X9682 of No 27 Operational Training Unit took off from RAF Valley at night on 25 February 1942, on a cross country training flight. The aircraft was last heard from in the vicinity of Squires Gate, Wales, at 2256 hours when an SOS message was received over the Irish Sea between Valley and Liverpool. The aircraft did not return to base, and subsequent air/sea rescue searches found no trace of the missing aircraft or crew. Following post war enquiries and investigations, it was recorded in 1948 that the missing crew had lost their lives at sea.

The crew members of X9682 were:

Sergeant Dudley Harnett Dyson (406351) (Pilot)
Sergeant Arthur Peter Roy Hargrave (402302) (Observer)
Sergeant Roy Gordon Hawkins (403788) (RNZAF) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Raymond Corlett Madge (407946) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Sidney John Rex Parsons (404598) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Sergeant Colin Geoffrey Veal (406335) (Second 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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/142/304

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