LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Herbert McROSTIE
Service No: 425345
Born: Brisbane QLD, 19 June 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 1 February 1942
Unit: No. 58 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 58 Squadron Halifax aircraft JP167), Atlantic Ocean, 11 June 1944, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Stewart and Mabel McRostie, of Bardon, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Brisbane QLD
Remembered: Panel 261, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 126, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2135 hours on 10 June 1944 Halifax JP167 took off from RAF St David’s, Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, to carry out an anti-submarine patrol south of the Brest Peninsular. The last signal received from the aircraft was at 0022 hours on 11 June. Nothing further was heard and the aircraft did not return to base. It was recorded in 1949 that the missing crew members had lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of JP167 were:
Flight Lieutenant Reginald Geoffrey Ash MID (48669) (RAF) (Navigator)
Sergeant Harry Chadwick (1524740) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator /Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Philip Hulme Douglas (1304764) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Sergeant William Farquharson (1567900) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Lieutenant James Hopkin-Hill (84949) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Herbert McRostie (425345) (Wireless Operator Air)
Sergeant Thomas Baxter Preston (1374970) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Kenneth Edward Wiles (1316726) (RAFVR) (Second 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 Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/26/477