LEST WE FORGET
Squadron Leader John Ronald SAVAGE
Service No: 402882
Born: Sydney NSW, 3 September 1916
Enlisted in the RAAF: 11 November 1940
Unit: No. 7 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Oakington
Died: Air Operations: (No. 7 Squadron Lancaster aircraft EF392), North Sea, 25 June 1943, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William and Daisy Louise Savage, of Balgowlah, New South Wales, Australia; husband of Wilhelmina Eugenie Savage, of Tullibegerri, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Woy Woy NSW
Remembered: Panel 187, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 130, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2328 hours on 24 June 1943 Lancaster EF392 took off from Oakington on a bombing mission to Wuppertal, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it did not return to base. Following post war enquiries and investigations, it was established that one body had been recovered from the sea. It was recorded in 1949 that the remaining members of the crew had lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of EF392 were:
Flight Sergeant Sidney James Barnes (656215) (RAF) Remains recovered
Sergeant Arthur Ashton Caley (1377873) (RAFVR)
Sergeant Godfrey Hippesley Cox (569405) (RAF)
Sergeant Sydney Arthur Errington (1507631) (RAFVR)
Warrant Officer Frederick John Haines (149607) (RAFVR)
Sergeant Norman Robert Morrison (R/140004) (RCAF)
Squadron Leader John Ronald Savage (402882) (Pilot)
Sergeant Derek Richard Spanton (1323191) (RAFVR)
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, 166/37/133