LEST WE FORGET

Flying Officer Geoffrey Gordon MITCHELL

Service No: 664 (290664)
Born: Sydney NSW, 10 June 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 8 January 1940 (at Parafield SA)
Unit: No. 13 Squadron, Penfoei
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 13 Squadron Hudson aircraft A16-61), Timor, 14 February 1942, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Ambon War Cemetery, Indonesia
CWGC Additional Information: Son of David Gordon and Blanche Eleanor Mitchell, of Rivervale, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Perth WA
Remembered: Panel 100, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide

On the 14th a Hudson of No. 13 Squadron took off from Penfoei at dawn into a stormy sky and, while still near the aerodrome, crashed after being struck by lightning. The pilot, Flying Officer Mitchell, and all the crew were killed.

Extract from Gillison, D.N. (Douglas Napier) (254475) Royal Australian Air Force 1939-1942, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1962 – Page 420

The crew members of A16-61 were:

Pilot Officer John Nicol Goodfellow (407894) (Second Pilot)
Flying Officer Geoffrey Gordon Mitchell (664) (Pilot)
Sergeant Charles Lawrence Motteram (406401) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Neil Keith Rayner (407649) (Wireless Air Gunner)

References:

Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
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, 163/45/137

Bibliography:

Grantham, S. R. (Sidney Richard) The 13 Squadron Story, S.R. Grantham, Dee Why NSW 2099, 1991
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Anson, Hudson and Sunderland in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1992

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