LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Garnet Arthur PHILLIPS
Service No: 426677
Born: Brisbane QLD, 1 July 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 18 July 1942
Unit: No. 190 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Fairford
Died: Air Operations: (No. 90 Squadron Stirling aircraft LJ881), Netherlands, 21 September 1944, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Jonkerbos War Cemetery, Gelderland, Netherlands
CWGC Additional Information: Son of George Arthur and Hannah Jane Phillips, of Paddington, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Brisbane QLD
Remembered: Panel 128, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 21 September 1944 Stirling LJ881 took off from Fairford, detailed to carry out an operational mission in the Netherlands. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire and shot up by a night fighter and crashed killing four crew members.
The crew members of LJ881 were:
Flying Officer Brian Arthur Beberfald (414953) (RNZAF) (Pilot)
Sergeant Charles Frederick Branson (1892153) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Driver Hughes (T/10696225) (Royal Army Service Corps, 253 Airborne Company) Baled out, safe
Driver B E Jones (T/170974) (Royal Army Service Corps, 253 Airborne Company) Baled out, Safe
Warrant Officer George Morris (420476) (Air Gunner) Baled out, Safe, Discharged from the RAAF: 21 September 1945
Flight Lieutenant L N Munro (J/11617) (RCAF) (Wireless Air Gunner) Baled out, Safe
Flight Sergeant Garnet Arthur Phillips (426677) (Air Bomber)
Pilot Officer Malcolm James Yarwood (421340) (RNZAF) (Navigator)
Flight Lieutenant Munro and Warrant Officer Morris survived the crash and returned to their unit. They later reported that “they baled out as the aircraft broke up, and that both Jones and Hughes had previously baled out or were blown out of the aircraft.”
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, 166/32/504