LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant Alan Leonard PITFIELD DFC
From Australia serving in the Royal Air Force
Service No: 39007 (RAF)
Born: Location, Date unavailable
Enlisted in the RAF: 1936
Unit: No. 88 Squadron (RAF)
Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC)
Died: Air Operations (No. 88 Squadron Battle aircraft L5334), France, 12 June 1940, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Beaurepaire Communal Cemetery, Oise, France
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Leonard Charles and Dorothy Ida Pitfield, of Hobart, Tasmania
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Flight Lieutenant Pitfield was an Australian Cadet trained for the RAF who embarked for the UK on 14 July 1936.
At 0830 hours on 12 June 1940, Battle L5334 took off from Moisy, France, to attack German forces near St Valery. The aircraft crashed near Beaurepaire, 38 kms south east of Beauvais, and both crew members were killed.
The crew members of L5334 were:
Sergeant John Ballantyne (580936) (RAF) (Observer)
Flight Lieutenant Alan Leonard Pitfield DFC (39007) (RAF) (Pilot)
References:
Chorley W R, Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War, Volume 1 Aircraft and Aircrew Losses 1939-1940, Midland Counties Publications UK, 1992
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record AWM65, 4211
Newton, Dennis A Few of the Few: Australians and the Battle of Britain, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT 2600, 1990