LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Cedric Howie PIERSON
Service No: 407590
Born: Campbelltown SA, 15 January 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 11 November 1940
Unit: No. 223 Squadron (RAF), Amiriya, Egypt
Died: Air Operations (No. 223 Squadron Baltimore aircraft AG843), El Alamein Battle Area, 1 September 1942, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Albert Smith Pierson and Catherine May Pierson; husband of Mary Eileen Pierson, of Lyndhurst, South Australia
Roll of Honour: Lyndhurst SA
Remembered: Column 265, Alamein Memorial Egypt
Remembered: Panel 128, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
When attacking a target in the El Alamein Battle Area on 1st September 1942, Baltimore AG843 of No. 223 Squadron was shot down by heavy anti-aircraft fire. After dropping its bomb load, the aircraft was seen to receive a direct hit, the port engine was seen to fall away, and the aircraft went straight down and crashed on the ground in flames. One member of the crew baled out and became a Prisoner of War. It was recorded in 1948 that any graves of the three missing crew members could not be located.
The crew members of AG843 were:
Warrant Officer Percy Wilson Carruthers (546056) (RAF) (Pilot) PoW
Sergeant Eric William Hargreaves (1000562) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Sergeant Richard Arthur Cherrington (1294666) (RAF) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Cedric Howie Pierson (407590) (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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/151/65