LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer David Allan PRIDDLE
Service No: 420487
Born: Ashfield NSW, 11 November 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 8 November 1941
Unit: No. 487 Squadron (RNZAF) RAF Station Gravesend
Died: Air Operations: (No. 487 Squadron Mosquito aircraft HX857), English Channel, 13 March 1944, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Archie Goswell Priddle and Marjorie May Priddle, of Narrabeen, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 259, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 133, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 13 March 1944 Mosquito HX857 took off from Gravesend for daytime operations to attack construction works at Herbouville. On the return journey, HX 857 was seen by another crew to make an unsuccessful forced landing in the sea 30 miles from the enemy coast, after being hit by anti-aircraft fire over enemy territory. The anti-aircraft fire had disabled one engine and on the way out the aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire again. The aircraft broke up on impact with the water. Although the position was circled for an hour, nothing was seen of the crew after the aircraft hit the water. In 1949 it was recorded that the crew had lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of HX857 were:
Pilot Officer Malcolm Eber Palmer Barriball (42358) (RNZAF) (Pilot)
Pilot Officer David Allan Priddle (420487) (Navigator)
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, 166/33/140