LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Robert Graham McDOWALL
Service No: 405060
Born: Sydney NSW, 13 March 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 4 September 1942 (at Brisbane QLD)
Unit: No. 8 Squadron (RAF), RAF Khormaskar, Aden
Died: Air Operations: (No. 8 Squadron Blenheim aircraft Z7847), off Aden, 4 September 1942, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Robert McDowall, and of Esther Sarah Jane McDowall, of Ascot, Queensland, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Georgetown QLD
Remembered: Column 266, Alamein Memorial, Egypt
Remembered: Panel 126, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Blenheim Z7847 of 8 Squadron was detailed to carry out a convoy escort patrol on 4 September 1942, forty miles distant from its base at Khormaskar. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. The weather conditions were good, but later aircraft on the same escort mission reported large areas of cloud with a base down to 100 feet. 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 Z7847 were:
Sergeant Garnham Frederick Green (406299) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Sergeant Robert Graham McDowall (405060) (Observer)
Sergeant Albert Soffi Williams (404834) (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, 163/141/694