LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Frederick John Alfred SAUNDERS
Service No: 406492
Born: Perth WA, 24 September 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 6 January 1941
Unit: No. 223 Squadron (RAF), Maaten Bagush, Egypt
Died: Air Operations (No. 223 Squadron Baltimore aircraft AG777), Libya, 8 June 1942, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Benghazi War Cemetery, Libya
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Arthur George and Anna Florence Saunders, of Perth, Western Australia; husband of Eileen Bertha Harvey Saunders, of Nedlands, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Perth WA
Remembered: Panel 130, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
On the 8th June 1942, while on operations a bomb on Baltimore aircraft AG777 prematurely detonated. AG777 disintegrated in the air and all the crew on board were killed. The burst bomb damaged Baltimores AG825 and DG742 but the with the exception of one member who was injured, the crews of those aircraft were not harmed.
The crew members of AG777 were:
Flight Sergeant Robert Charles Addison Ash (407197) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Tom Allan Auld (406329) (Observer)
Sergeant Sidney Montague Moore (778878) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Frederick John Alfred Saunders (406492) (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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/160/217
Bibliography:
Gaston, Bruce DFC (406646), Harry Horner DFC OAM (406595), Raymond Storer (406666) (Editors), Aircrew for the Duration: of and by members of RAAF EATS Courses 10, 11, 12 & 13, Gaston Horner and Storer, Nedlands WA, 1990