LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Jack Stewart NOTT
Service No: 421543
Born: Armidale NSW, 26 March 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 1 February 1942
Unit: No. 77 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Full Sutton
Died: Prisoner of War (Executed) (from the loss of No. 77 Squadron Halifax aircraft MZ698 on 17 June 1944): Netherlands, 9 July 1944, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Charles Frank and Beatrice Eveline Nott; husband of A. G. Nott, of Nimbin, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Armidale NSW
Remembered: Panel 257, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 128, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Armidale Dumaresq Council War Memorial Library, Armidale NSW
At 2320 hours on the night of 16 June 1944 Halifax MZ698 took off from Full Sutton detailed to bomb Sterkrade, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. MZ698 was one of seven aircraft from the Squadron that failed to return after the mission. The aircraft crashed at St-Oedenrode (Noord-Brabant), a small town north of Eindhoven and west of the main road leading to Uden, Holland. Five of the crew members were killed in the crash and two were taken prisoner.
Flying Officer Nott evaded capture and was in hiding with the Dutch underground movement. He was conveyed to a transit address in the town of Tilburg, Holland. The Germans captured a member of the underground and learnt of the presence of Nott plus and two other evaders. These three were then captured and shot by the Germans on 9 July 1944. Flying Officer Nott has no known grave.
The crew members of MZ698 were:
Sergeant John Henry Brown (2209145) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Pilot Officer James Henry Bulmer (179305) (RAFVR) (Navigator) PoW
Sergeant Robert Cottar (1348052) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flying Officer Arthur Hanley Ford (139587) (RAFVR) (Second Pilot)
Flight Sergeant John William Needham (1459553) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner) PoW
Flying Officer Jack Stewart Nott (421543) (Air Bomber) Evaded then captured, Executed: 9 July 1944
Sergeant Douglas Dean Roberts (1685090) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Lieutenant Sydney Edward Wodehouse (48319) (RAF) (Pilot)
The three members executed on 9 July 1944 are:
Flying Officer Roy Edward Carter (J/28855) (RCAF) No. 431 Squadron RCAF
Flying Officer Jack Stewart Nott (421543) No. 77 Squadron RAF
Flying Officer Ronald Arthur Walker (149550) (RAFVR) No. 83 Squadron RAF
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, 166/30/61
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line