LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Mervyn Goulbourne SMART
Service No: 401397
Born: Ararat VIC, 28 November 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 2 February 1941
Unit: No. 40 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 40 Squadron Wellington aircraft HF846), Libya, 26 September 1942, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Goulbourne and Grace Smart; husband of Mary Smart, of Winipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Roll of Honour: Ararat VIC
Remembered: Column 266, Memorial, Egypt
Remembered: Panel 130, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2000 hours on 25 September 1942 Wellington HF846 took off to attack Tobruk defences. No radio messages were received from the HF846, but other aircraft on the same mission reported seeing an aircraft crash and burst into flames in position 1 miles south of Gubbi satellite aerodrome at approximately 0005 hours. Following post war enquiries and investigations, it was later recorded that the missing crew members had no known graves.
The crew members of HF846 were:
Flying Officer Donald Arthur Adams MID (41859) (RNZAF) (Second Pilot)
Sergeant Richard Henry Cook (404593) (RNZAF) (Wireless Operator)
Sergeant Gerald Fitzgerald Langham (41913) (RNZAF) (Pilot)
Sergeant William George James Price (1312849) (RAF) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Mervyn Goulbourne Smart (401397) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner – Front Gunner)
Flight Sergeant John Miller Welsh (391432) (RNZAF) (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, 163/162/469