LEST WE FORGET

Wing Commander Eric PAUL MID

Service No: 402079
Born: Sydney NSW, 16 June 1909
Enlisted in the RAAF: 26 May 1940
Unit: Air Headquarters (RAF), Western Desert
Awarded the Mentioned in Despatches (MID)
Died: Air Operations (No. 117 Squadron Hudson aircraft FK386), Atlantic Ocean, 3 June 1943, Aged 33 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: No additional information
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 186, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 128, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT

At 1737 hours on 3 June 1943 Hudson FK386 left RAF Station Portreath, Cornwall, in transit for Gibraltar. The crew and passengers were returning to their respective headquarters in North Africa. Nothing further was heard from the aircraft after take-off, it being assumed that the aircraft was lost as a result of enemy action. In 1949 it was recorded that all personnel on board had lost their lives at sea.

The crew members of FK386 were:

Flying Officer Dennis Victor Edwards (145817) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Wing Commander Jack Goodhead MID (41787) (RAF) (Pilot)
Squadron Leader Osgood Villiers Hanbury DSO DFC & Bar (81357) (RAFVR) (Co-Pilot)
Flying Officer Edward James McSherry (39867) (RNZAF) (Navigator) (No. 216 Squadron)

The passengers were:

Flight Lieutenant John Bowyer Buckley (J/6013) (RCAF) (Air Headquarters Western Desert)
Wing Commander Howard Frizelle Burton DSO DFC & Bar (33227) (RAF) (No. 239 Wing Headquarters)
Wing Commander Paul Temple Cotton DFC (89762) (RAFVR) (Air Headquarters Western Desert)
Wing Commander Eric Paul MID (402079) (Air Headquarters Western Desert)
Group Captain Robert Gordon Yaxley DSO MC DFC (33130) (RAF) (Air Headquarters Western Desert)
Squadron Leader John Kenneth Young MBE (88799) (RAFVR) (NWAAF)

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, 166/32/120

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