LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Robert John McQUITTY
Service No: 408338
Born: Hobart TAS, 8 January 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 6 November 1941
Unit: No. 149 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Methwold
Died: Air Operations (No. 149 Squadron Stirling aircraft EF188), France, 24 June 1944, Aged 21 Years
Buried: St Charles De Percy War Cemetery, Calvados, France
CWGC Additional Information: Son of James and Kate Marie Proctor McQuitty, of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 126, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Brother of Sergeant William Morrison McQuitty (408014)
At 2315 hours on the night of 23 June 1944 Stirling EF188 took off from Methwold and set course for French coastal waters off Brest to lay mines. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire and crashed in the vicinity of Plougonvelin in the Department of the Finistere, 18kms south west of Brest, France, and all the crew members were killed.
The crew members of EF188 were:
Flight Sergeant Francis Patrick Joseph Brady (424361) (Wireless Operator)
Sergeant Ernest Richard Duckworth (1890080) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Edward Denis Eaton (1326107) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Howard William George Fox (J/89053) (RCAF) (Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Edward James Lincoln (426358) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Robert John McQuitty (408338) (Air Bomber)
Flight Sergeant Leslie Reginald Richards (1432021) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
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, 166/26/492