LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Reginald Keith MANTTAN
Service No: 414416
Born: Brisbane QLD, 16 August 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 14 September 1941
Unit: No. 32 Operational Training Unit (RAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 32 Operational Training Unit aircraft), off Vancouver Island, 14 March 1943, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Reginald Francis Ryan Manttan and Dorothy Marion Manttan, of Auchenflower, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Brisbane QLD
Remembered: Panel 3, Column 1, Ottawa Memorial, Ottawa, Ontario
Remembered: Panel 133, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
While flying over the sea in a night flying test on 14 March 1943, an aircraft of No 32 Operational Training Unit was seen to crash into the sea in Saanich Inlet, Vancouver Island, Canada. All the crew members were killed instantly on impact.
The crew members were:
Pilot Officer Grant Leroy Hall (J/22085) (RCAF)
Pilot Officer Allan William John Hunt (420343) (Pilot)
Pilot Officer Reginald Keith Manttan (414416) (Navigator)
Sergeant Howard Shurvin Piercy (R/129632) (RCAF)
The remains of Pilot Officer Hunt were later recovered and interred in the Woodlawn Cemetery, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan with no trace of Pilot Officer Manttan being found.
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, 166/27/65