LEST WE FORGET

Flying Officer James William NATTRASS

Service No: 442477
Born: Moonta SA, 27 July 1925
Enlisted in the RAAF: 14 August 1943
Unit: No. 2 Aircraft Depot, RAAF Station Richmond NSW
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 2 Aircraft Depot Mosquito aircraft A52-147), near Cape Tsuru, Japan, 18 March 1946, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Ray Ilman Nattrass and Dorothea Lydia Nattrass, of Enfield, South Australia.
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 32, Labuan Memorial, Malaysia
Remembered: Panel 113, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide

Just after midday on 18 March 1946, Mosquito aircraft A52-147 and three Mustang aircraft – A68-718, A68-770 and A68-773 – were lost in bad weather in the vicinity of Cape Tsuru, Kyushu, Japan. The aircraft were on a ferry flight from Naha, Okinawa, to Bofu with the Mosquito providing the escort.

The crew members lost were:

Flying Officer John Gibson Allan (407213) Mustang A68-718
Flying Officer James William Nattrass (Pilot) (442477) Mosquito A52-147
Flying Officer Alan George Pilkington (406042) Mustang A68-773
Flight Lieutenant George William Saywell (Navigator) (414962) Mosquito A52-147
Flying Officer Murray Geoffrey Short (47460) Mustang A68-770

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, 166/29/319

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