LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant Nigel Russell PUGH
Service No: 410281
Born: Sydney NSW, 12 April 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 5 December 1941 (at Melbourne VIC)
Unit: No. 83 Squadron
Died: Aircraft Accident: Hollandia and Aitape (No. 83 Squadron Boomerang aircraft A46-159), off the Northern Territory Coast, 29 May 1944, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Richard Russell Pugh and Dorothy Pugh, of Toorak, Victoria
Roll of Honour: Melbourne VIC
Remembered: Panel 6, Northern Territory Memorial, Adelaide River War Cemetery NT
Remembered: Panel 104, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1040 hours on 29 May 1944, Boomerang A46-159 flown by Flight Lieutenant Pugh took off from Milingimbi in company with Boomerang A46-154 flown by Flying Officer Geoffrey Lloyd Cole (417262) (Discharged: 17 September 1946) as No. 2 to carry out a convoy patrol over Force BA. The Force was located at 1102 hours and Flight Lieutenant Pugh having identified himself to a corvette, led a couple of passes at Beaufort NA-D that he was relieving. On about the third pass, which was a slightly diving port beam, the Beaufort turned in towards the attack at a height of about 500 feet. A46-159 pulled around to follow the Beaufort, and was making a very tight turn when the plane turned on its back and struck the water in a spiral at 1103 hours in position 11.24S 134.32E. The corvette HMAS Fremantle immediately proceeded to the scene of the crash and searched for 25 minutes. Flying Officer Cole in A46-154 also circled the area for 30 minutes and saw a small amount of debris and patches of oil, but no sign of Flight Lieutenant Pugh.
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, 166/33/73; A9845, 207