LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Francis Arthur NOONAN
Service No: 409215
Born: Townsville QLD, 15 October 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 20 July 1941 (at Melbourne VIC)
Unit: No. 40 Squadron (RAF), Hani West, Tunisia
Died: Air Operations: (No. 255 Squadron Beaufighter aircraft V8187), off Sicily, 27 August 1943, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Francis Patrick and Veronica Nora Noonan, of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 11, Column 2, Malta Memorial, Malta
Remembered: Panel 128, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 27 August 1943 Beaufighter V8187 took off from Blida to carry out a calibration flight of the Palermo Radar Station, Sicily. The aircraft was attacked some 5 miles east of Scotella by two aircraft from an American Fighter Squadron who mistook the Beaufighter for a German JU88. Hits were seen on V8187 and Flight Sergeant Noonan was seen slumped in the cockpit. Flight Sergeant Waddell attempted to make for land and covered about 40 miles to shore when one engine caught fire and he attempted to ditch in the sea but crashed. An empty rubber dinghy was sighted, but no trace of the missing crew was found.
The crew members of V8187 were:
Flight Sergeant Francis Arthur Noonan (409215) (Pilot, Supernumerary) No. 40 Squadron RAF
Flight Sergeant Robert Reginald Waddell (420086) (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, 166/30/25