LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Thomas Geoffrey Notcutt RUSSELL
Service No: 400940
Born: Wangaratta VIC, 17 August 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 11 November 1940
Unit: No. 14 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 14 Squadron Marauder aircraft FK155), Central Mediterranean, 9 May 1943, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Robert Geoffrey Russell, and of Hazel Margaret Russell, of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 12, Column 1, Malta Memorial, Malta
Remembered: Panel 129, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 0510 hours on 9 May 1943 Marauder FK155 took off from Bone to carry out a shipping reconnaissance. Repeated requests for weather reports were not answered by FK155 and the aircraft did not return to base after the mission. Following post war enquiries and investigations, it was recorded in 1948 that the missing crew members had lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of FK155 were:
Sergeant Joseph Walter Armstrong (1078075) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Sergeant Wallace Henry Ayton (1269886) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Warrant Officer Francis Victor Dyson (401007) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Peter Fennell (1194820) (RAFVR) (Second Pilot)
Flight Sergeant William James Nicholas (401529) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Thomas Geoffrey Notcutt Russell (400940) (Pilot)
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, 163/159/86
Bibliography:
Napier, Michael Winged Crusaders: the exploits of 14 Squadron RFC & RAF 1915-1945, Pen & Sword Books, Barnsley UK, 2012