LEST WE FORGET
Leading Aircraftman Alan James PITTS
Service No: 68670
Born: Newcastle NSW, 9 October 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 5 August 1942
Unit: No. 31 Squadron
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 31 Squadron Beaufighter aircraft A19-84), Darwin, 18 October 1943, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Adelaide River War Cemetery NT
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Arthur James Pitts and Ellen Pitts, of Merewether, New South Wales
Roll of Honour: Newcastle NSW
Remembered: Panel 102, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Speers Point District Roll of Honour, Speers Point NSW
At 1145 hours on 18 October 1943, Beaufighter A19-84 crashed near the airstrip at Darwin during a non-operational exercise with a Spitfire. The wing tip of A19-84 hit a tree and the aircraft crashed and burned and all on board were killed.
The crew members of A19-84 were:
Flight Sergeant William Bertram Carton (425425) (Navigator Wireless)
Flight Sergeant Rowland Valentine Ellis (420168) (Pilot)
Leading Aircraftman Alan James Pitts (68670) (Supernumerary, Armourer)
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, 166/32/220; A9845, 15
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line
Bibliography:
Parnell, N.M. (Neville M.) Whispering Death: A history of the RAAF’s Beaufighter Squadrons, AH & AW Reed, Terry Hills NSW, 1980
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Beaufort, Beaufighter and Mosquito in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1990