LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Malcolm Jack RITCHIE
Service No: 403390
Born: Sydney NSW, 24 April 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 6 January 1941
Unit: No. 66 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 66 Squadron Spitfire aircraft P7363), off Cornwall, 20 March 1942, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Gilbert Malcolm and Pauline Ritchie; husband of Dorothy Dale Ritchie, of North Strathfield, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Sydney NSW
Remembered: Panel 113, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 129, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 20 March 1942 Spitfire P7363 was detailed to carry out air to sea firing against sea markers, being under instruction not to continue to dive below 700 feet. The weather at the time was excellent and the sea calm. Eye witnesses reported that each time the aircraft pulled out of a dive it appeared to do so quite sharply. The last time the aircraft pulled out of the dive, it rose from about 100 feet before it crashed into the sea. This seemed to indicate a high speed stall at a low altitude with the pilot being unable to recover in time. The location was one mile north-west of Gull Rock, Portreath.
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, 163/157/142