LEST WE FORGET
Warrant Officer Ernest Arthur MINCHAM
Service No: 406306
Born: Coolgardie WA, 20 March 1912
Enlisted in the RAAF: 7 October 1940
Unit: No. 120 Squadron (RAF), Reykjavik, Iceland
Died: Air Operations: The Holding Campaign at Sea 1943-4 (No. 120 Squadron Liberator aircraft FK923), Atlantic Ocean, 4 October 1943, Aged 31 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Charles Stephen and Elizabeth Mincham, of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia; husband of Joyce Mincham, of Beverley, Yorkshire.
Roll of Honour: Kalgoorlie WA
Remembered: Panel 191, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 127, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
Liberator FK923 of 120 Squadron took off from RAF Reykjavik on an anti-submarine patrol over an Atlantic convoy, on 4 October 1943. At 1130 hours a signal from the aircraft was received stating ‘about to carry out an attack’. The signal faded and nothing further was heard from the aircraft which did not return to base. It was considered that the aircraft may have been shot down by anti-aircraft fire. Searches were carried out the next day and aircraft were warned to keep a lookout, but no trace of the missing aircraft or crew were found. It was recorded in 1949 that the missing crew had lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of FK 923 were:
Flight Lieutenant John Nigel Grey Bruce (66528) (RAFVR)
Flight Sergeant Albert Leslie Furr (130062) (RAFVR)
Wing Commander Richard Maitland Longmore OBE (33265) (RAF) (Pilot)
Warrant Officer Ernest Arthur Mincham (406306) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Arthur Edward Parsons (901162) (RAFVR)
Warrant Officer William Stott (407563) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Robert Wood Tait (121402) (RAFVR)
Pilot Officer Francis Maxwell Webber (J/14447) (RCAF)
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, 166/27/247
Bibliography:
Jay, Alwyn, Endurance; Coastal Command Liberator Operations 1941-5, Banner Books, Maryborough QLD, 4650, 1996