LEST WE FORGET

Pilot Officer John McINTOSH

From Australia serving in the Royal Air Force

Service No: 43289 (RAF)
Born: Date, Location unavailable
Enlisted in the RAF: Acting Pilot Officer – 10 April 1940
Unit: No. 233 Squadron (RAF), Leuchars, Fife
Died: Air Operations: (No. 233 Squadron Hudson I aircraft P5117), North Sea, 4 October 1940, Age unavailable
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: No further information
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 9, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Commemorative Roll, Australian War Memorial, Canberra
Remembered: Battle of Britain Memorial, Westminster Abbey, London UK

On 4 October 1940, the patrol of Hudson P5117 was extended and the aircraft did not return to the coast until after dark. The weather was appalling and the crew were unable to locate their base as radio communications were problematic. Various messages were received and bearings passed. The last bearing passed to the aircraft at 1956 hours was not acknowledged. By then landing had become impracticable due to bad weather and darkness. The aircraft was abandoned by the crew over the North Sea and thought to have been left on automatic pilot. P5117 eventually crashed near the hamlet of Oxfo 1 mile south west of Scremerston, Northumberland. The bodies of the crew were not recovered and they are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.

The crew members of P5117 were:

Flying Officer Gilbert Keith Brackenridge (70074) (RAF) (Pilot)
Sergeant Donald Bruce (536872) (RAF)
Pilot Officer John McIntosh (43289) (RAF)
Sergeant Andrew Russell (533654) (RAF)

References:

Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll On-Line Records
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
McNeill, Ross RAF Coastal Command Loses of the Second World War Volume 1 Aircraft and Aircrew Losses 1939-1941, Midland Publications UK, 2003
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/47/82

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