LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Robert Finlay PETERSON
Service No: 412655
Born: Burwood NSW, 7 October 1909
Enlisted in the RAAF: 20 July 1941
Unit: No. 142 Squadron (RAF), Blida, Algeria
Died: Air Operations: (No. 142 Squadron Wellington aircraft DF691), off the Tunisian Coast, 23 February 1943, Aged 33 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Daniel Cuthbert and Kate Peterson; husband of Adelaide Peterson, of West Ryde, New South Wales, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 11, Column 1, Malta Memorial, Malta
Remembered: Panel 128, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Wellington DF691 of 142 Squadron took off from RAF Blida at 0230 hours on 23 February 1943, to attack the docks at Bizerte, Tunisia. The ETA to the target was 0515 hours. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. Several crews saw an aircraft crash into the sea north of Bizerte, but they could not identify the aircraft. The route recommended was as follows: Base – Cape Benut – La Galite – Bizerte – La Galite – 37.30N, 0500-E – Base. All the crew lost their lives at sea and have no known graves.
The crew members of DF691 were:
Sergeant Ernest Hill (1356019) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Albrecht Maxwell Jensen (406567) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Albert Jowers (411788) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Sergeant Frank Ronald Marples (1378821) (RAFVR) (Bomb Aimer)
Pilot Officer Robert Finlay Peterson (412655) (Navigator)
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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/32/39