LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Raymond Charles SMITH
Service No: 431219
Born: Preston VIC, 8 May 1925
Enlisted in the RAAF: 7 June 1923
Unit: No. 1 Operational Training Unit, RAAF Station East Sale VIC
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 1 Operational Training Unit Hudson aircraft A16-113), off the Victorian Coast, 4 May 1945, Aged 19 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Walter Stanley Smith and Elizabeth Jane Smith, of Preston, Victoria.
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 6, Sydney Memorial, Rookwood NSW
Remembered: Panel 113, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1913 hours Friday 4th May 1945, Hudson A16-113 took off from East Sale on a night training flight via Paynesville, Patts River and return to East Sale. The aircraft crashed into sea, with only a wheel and undercarriage washing up on a beach near Ocean Grange VIC.
The crew members of A16-113 were:
Flying Officer Arthur Samuel Cullen (406519) (Navigator)
Warrant Officer Leslie Hugh Hamersley (406216) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Warrant Officer Francis James Egan Maughan (412561) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Raymond Charles Smith (431219) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Frank William Walker (449941) (Air Gunner)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A9845, 135
Bibliography:
Lax, M. (Mark) (editor) Always Ready: a history of RAAF East Sale, RAAF Publications Unit Melbourne VIC, 1993
Vincent, D. (David) The RAAF Hudson Story Book 1, D. Vincent Highbury SA 5089, 1989