LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Ian Russell McCALMAN
Service No: 400418
Born: Korumburra VIC, 9 May 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 20 August 1940
Unit: No 40 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 40 Squadron Wellington aircraft K9763), off North Africa, 2 November 1941, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Duncan and Ethel Alice McCalman, of Caulfield, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 2, Column 1, Malta Memorial, Malta
Remembered: Panel 126, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 2 November 1941 Wellington K9763 was detailed to carry out operations against Tripoli, Libya. The aircraft left RAF Luqa, Malta, and was due back at 2359 hours. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. The bodies of Sergeant Colville and Sergeant Robson are interred in the Tripoli Military Cemetery. In 1948 it was recorded that the remaining missing crew members had lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of K9763 were:
Sergeant John Thomas Ackroyd (1397183) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Gavin David Colville (929677) (RAFVR) (Pilot) Died: 23 November 1941
Sergeant Harold Michael Forth (748116) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Ian Russell McCalman (400418) (Second Pilot)
Sergeant Thomas Wilson Robson (1100625) (RAFVR) (Second Wireless Operator Air Gunner) Died: 3 November 1941
Sergeant Ernest Donald Spry (957039) (RAFVR) (First Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
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, 163/141/315