LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Edward O’CONNELL
Service No: 402468
Born: London, England, 19 May 1914
Enlisted in the RAAF: 19 August 1940 (at Sydney NSW)
Unit: No. 14 Operational Training Unit (RAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 14 Operational Training Unit Hampden aircraft P1186), Lincolnshire, 26 January 1942, Aged 27 Years
Buried: Cottesmore (St Nicholas) Churchyard Extension, Rutland
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Patrick Francis and Louisa Jeanette O’Connell, of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Arncliffe NSW
Remembered: Panel 128, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On the night of 25/26 January 1942, Hampden P1186 took off RAF Cottesmore for a high level bombing exercise. For reasons that could not be determined, the aircraft dived at 0540 hours into the ground less that a mile north of Pinchbeck, 2 miles north from Spalding in Lincolnshire. All the crew members were killed.
The crew members of P1186 were:
Pilot Officer Walter Hugh Lynch (402526) (Observer)
Sergeant Edward O’Connell (402468) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Joseph Mitchell Marok (J/6801) (RCAF) (Pilot)
Pilot Officer Sydney Stanley White (404742) (Observer)
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, 163/148/191