LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant John Douglas SANDILANDS
Service No: 402613
Born: Uralla NSW, 7 December 1915
Enlisted in the RAAF: 16 September 1940
Unit: Overseas Aircraft Delivery Unit (RAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident (Overseas Aircraft Delivery Unit Wellington aircraft AD635), Algeria, 16 February 1942, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Bone War Cemetery, Annaba, Algeria
CWGC Additional Information: Son of James Bruce and Aline McLeod Sandilands, of Uralla, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Uralla NSW
Remembered: Panel 130, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Brother of Flight Lieutenant James Walter Sandilands (402405) and of Flying Officer Geoffrey Bruce Sandilands (421095)
On 16 February 1942 Wellington AD635 crashed when in transit from the UK to the Middle East. Information from the United States’ Ambassador stated that the aircraft had crashed in mountains near Kef Cum Teboul, 12 miles east of La Cala near the Tunisian border. All the crew members had been killed.
The crew members of AD635 were:
Sergeant Clifford James Foote (656751) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Allan O’Brien (404564) (RNZAF) (Pilot)
Sergeant John Douglas Sandilands (414091) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Walter Brian Stehr (41499) (RNZAF) (Second Pilot)
Sergeant Alan Leslie Strang (400311) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Walter Robert Wren (402433) (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 Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/160/165