LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Ronald Llewellyn ROGERS
Service No: 407276
Born: Wolverhampton England, 17 February 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 17 August 1940 (at Adelaide SA)
Unit: No. 113 Squadron (RAF), Asansol, India
Died: Air Operations (No. 113 Squadron Blenheim aircraft Z9820), Burma, 19 April 1942, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Llewellyn Samuel and Edith Emily Rogers; husband of Alice Veronica Rogers, of Pascoe Vale South, Victoria, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Adelaide SA
Remembered: Column 421, Singapore Memorial, Singapore
Remembered: Panel 129, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Blenheim Z9820 of 113 Squadron crashed on 19 April 1942 while carrying out a low level attack on an enemy aerodrome at Allanmyo, Burma, near the Irrawaddy River, it being presumed the aircraft was brought down by anti-aircraft fire. The target is approximately 180 miles north west of Rangoon, Burma. Z9820 set out with other squadron aircraft and the attack was successfully carried out. After the attack, Z9820 was slightly behind the formation and was seen to dip suddenly and to somersault into a clump of trees. An eye witness to the crash, Sergeant White an air gunner in one of the aircraft stated “the flight of 5 aircraft had just left the target with Z 9820 flying No 4 and a few hundred feet behind the formation. As we turned to port the aircraft appeared to dip slightly and then burst into flames just above tree top height. It then dropped on the trees and somersaulted for a time still in flames. The plane was covered in thick black smoke and smoking fiercely when we were miles away.” In 1953 it was established that the aircraft crashed south of Allanmyo at 1921N 9514E at a village called Thahnga, 20 miles north of Allanmyo. The wreckage was scattered over a wide area, but no remains of the missing crew were located.
The crew members of Z9820 were:
Flight Sergeant Edgar Edwin MacKenzie Campbell (40613) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Max Milton Hickey (406527) (Pilot)
Flying Officer Ronald Llewellyn Rogers (407276) (Observer)
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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/55/183