LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Robert David POWELL
Service No: 404862
Born: Blackall QLD, 1 June 1910
Enlisted in the RAAF: 6 December 1940
Unit: No. 459 Squadron, Landing Ground 40, Egypt
Died: Air Operations: (No. 459 Squadron Hudson aircraft M 9022), Mediterranean, 15 June 1942, Aged 32 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Joshua Edward Whittell Powell and Jessie Alice Powell, of Blackall, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Blackall QLD
Remembered: Column 265, Alamein Memorial, Egypt
Remembered: Panel 106, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 15 June 1942 Hudson M9022 did not return from convoy duty. It was later learned that the aircraft had been shot down by a German fighter and all the crew members had been killed. There were two convoys on Operation Vigorous to resupply Malta – one from Gibraltar and the other from Alexandria being supported by air operations from North Africa.
The crew members of M9022 were:
Flying Officer William David Blackstock (404230) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Norman Clarence Darr (402917) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Alan Howard Durrell (403262) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Robert David Powell (404862) (Navigator)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A9816, 145 (No. 459 Squadron Unit History)
Bibliography:
Kane-Maguire L. (Leon) Desert Scorpions: 459 Squadron RAAF 1942-1945, Australian Military History Publications Loftus NSW 2232, 2007
Vincent, D. (David) The RAAF Hudson Story Book 1, D. Vincent Highbury SA 5089, 1989