LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Vernon Temple RUTTER
Service No: 418182
Born: Richmond VIC, 10 March 1913
Enlisted in the RAAF: 25 April 1942
Unit: No. 142 Squadron (RAF), Amendola, Italy
Died: Air Operations: (No. 142 Squadron Wellington aircraft), Italy, 25 February 1944, Aged 30 Years
Buried: Bari War Cemetery, Italy
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Samuel Temple Rutter and Winifred Olga Rutter; husband of Elsa Mary Rutter, of Claremont, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Perth WA
Remembered: Panel 129, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
A Wellington aircraft of No 142 Squadron took off at 1808 hours on 25th February 1944, detailed to bomb the Daimler-Push AG Aircraft Works at Steyr, Austria. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed at approximately 0100 hours on the 25th February 1944 approximately 2.5 miles from Castelnuovo, but the cause of the crash was not known. Three of the crew were killed in the crash, and two became Prisoners of War.
The crew members of the Wellington aircraft were:
Sergeant Frederick Charles Churcher (1314803) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant R F Foster (1584767) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner) PoW
Flight Sergeant Godfrey Denzil Vaughan Howard (427327) (Bomb Aimer)
Flying Officer Norman Henry Koetsveld (12517) (Pilot) PoW, Died from injuries 4 March 1944
Flying Officer Vernon Temple Rutter (418182) (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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/36/206