LEST WE FORGET
Leading Aircraftman John Vernon McMURRICH
Service No: 428483
Born: Geelong West VIC, 23 October 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 6 November 1942
Unit: No. 8 Elementary Flying Training School, Narrandera NSW
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 8 Elementary Flying Training School Tiger Moth Aircraft A17-192), near Junee NSW, 24 March 19043, Aged 19 Years
Buried: Narrandera War Cemetery, NSW
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Robert P. McMurrich and Bessie A. McMurrich, of Geelong West, Victoria
Roll of Honour: Geelong VIC
Remembered: Panel 116, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Narrandera Tiger Moth Memorial, Narrandera NSW
At 1320 hours on 24 March 1943, Tiger Moth A17-192 flown by Leading Aircraftman McMurrich took off on a solo cross country exercise from Narrandera to Wagga to Junee and return to Narrandera. The aircraft crashed on the second leg of the journey, about one mile west of Old Junee, New South Wales, and he was killed. It was considered that that he had lost control of the aircraft and it crashed and caught fire on impact.
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, 166/6/68
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line