LEST WE FORGET

Flight Sergeant Vivian Harold PEARSALL

Service No: 418460
Born: Newtown TAS, 23 September 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 22 may 1942 (at Melbourne VIC)
Unit: No. 98 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Dunsfield
Died: Air Operations: (No. 98 Squadron Mitchell aircraft DV940), off the French Coast, 20 March 1944, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Abbeville Communal Cemetery Extension, Somme, France
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Leonard Harold and Pearl Hettie Pearsall, of Cockatoo, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Oakleigh VIC
Remembered: Panel 128, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT

At 0830 hours on the 20 March 1944 Mitchell DV940 took off from Dunsfold detailed to bomb construction work at Gerenfles at 0930 hours from a height of 10,000 feet. About 3 minutes before reaching the target smoke was seen to be issuing from the starboard engine, but the pilot continued to fly in the box formation of 6 aircraft. After successfully bombing, the aircraft broke away from the formation and dived towards the coast. The aircraft was last seen at about 3,000 feet heading towards the sea. The last VHF signal was “starboard engine on fire. Angels 3, will have to ditch.”  Nothing further was heard and no parachutes were seen to leave the aircraft. The aircraft crashed into the sea approximately 36 miles south of Baie de Somme, France, and all the crew members were killed.

The crew members of DV940 were:

Flying Officer Douglas Vernon Dalton (420863) (Pilot)
Sergeant Henry Edward Jeffery (090328) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Flying Officer David Wright Lindsey (422570) (RNZAF) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Flight Sergeant Vivian Harold Pearsall (418460) (Wireless Operator Air)

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 A9301, 418460

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