LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Phillip John Otto MUELLER
Service No: 400480
Born: Bendigo VIC, 15 August 1914
Enlisted in the RAAF: 14 September 1940
Unit: No. 248 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Talbenny, Dyfed
Died: Air Operations: (No. 248 Squadron Beaufighter aircraft T5278), 1 December 1942, Aged 28 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Ernst George and Irene Alberta Mueller, of Bendigo, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Bendigo VIC
Remembered: Panel 111, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 127, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 1 December 1942 Beaufighter T5278 was one of three Beaufighters detailed to search for Beaufighter JL434, missing from an intercept patrol the previous day. Nothing was heard from the three aircraft after take-off shortly after 0800 hours from Talbenny and the three aircraft failed to return to base. Following post war enquiries and investigations, it was recorded in 1949 that the missing crew members had no known graves.
The crew members of T5278 were:
Flight Sergeant Phillip John Otto Mueller (400480) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Ralph Brittain Whitcombe (1055128) (RAFVR) (Navigator Wireless)
The crew members of EL360 lost on 1 December 1942 were:
Flight Sergeant Gordon Edward Twigg (411080) (Pilot)
Sergeant Jack Brook (1058482) (RAFVR) (Navigator Wireless)
The crew members of T5197 lost on 1 December 1942 were:
Flight Sergeant Ronald Frank Hammond DFM (400585) (Pilot)
Warrant Officer Hugh McColl (516742) (RAF) (Navigator Wireless)
The crew members of JL434 lost on 30 November 1942 were:
Flying Officer Peter St Clair Bate (102138) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Richard Albert Galway Faulkner (1162464) (RAFVR) (Navigator Wireless)
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, 163/146/230