LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant Felix Andrew McCORMICK
Service No: 420481
Born: Willoughby NSW, 20 January 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 8 November 1941
Unit: No. 356 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident: (No. 356 Squadron Liberator aircraft EW155), India, 28 October 1944, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Ranchi War Cemetery, India
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Patrick Joseph and Mary Ellen McCormick, of Willoughby, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 126, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At approximately 1735 hours on 28 October 1944, Liberator EW155 took off detailed to carry out a night operational sortie. On take-off the aircraft sounded like a Harvard indicating a runaway propeller. The aircraft released its bombs shortly after take-off and then started to turn to port towards the aerodrome at an altitude of approximately 150 feet. In this turn the port wing appeared to stall and the wings became vertical. The aircraft dropped below the skyline and burst into flames on impact. The aircraft crashed near Salbani, approximately 14 miles north of Midnapur, Bengal, India, and all the crew members were killed.
The crew members of EW15 were:
Flying Officer John Henry Burton (163716) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Flight Sergeant Charles Frederick Evans (1866609) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Warrant Officer Jack Fowler (1010634) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Flight Lieutenant Felix Andrew McCormick (420481) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant William Henry Patten (1288915) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Lieutenant Allan Arthur Pierce (J/11357) (RCAF) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Geoffrey Daniel La’Belle Steel (1582643) (RAFVR) (Second Pilot)
Flight Sergeant William Eric Wilson (1643762) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
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, 166/126/633