LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Raymond Douglas Crowley SMITH
Service No: 413709
Born: Marrickville NSW, 30 April 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 12 September 1941
Unit: No. 511 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 511 Squadron Albermarle aircraft P1433), Atlantic Ocean, 10 August 1943, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Clement Walter and Florence Elsie Baines Smith, of Upper Manilla, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 12, Column 1, Malta Memorial, Malta
Remembered: Panel 130, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Barraba and District War Memorial, Barraba NSW
On an operational flight on 10 August 1943 Albermarle P1433 sent out a distress message from position 35.38N 007.34W. This placed it out to sea approximately 105 miles west of Tarifa, Spain. Three days of searching did not reveal any trace of the missing aircraft or crew. In 1948 it was recorded that the crew and passengers of P1433 had lost their lives at sea and had no known graves.
On board P1433, all of whom were from No. 511 Squadron, were:
Corporal Keith Treffa Alexander (646930) (RAF)
Flying Officer James Hannan Charnock (131579) (RAFVR)
Flying Officer Douglas Charles Walter Clark (J/10576) (RCAF)
Sergeant William Brownlee Clarkson (1349619) (RAFVR)
Pilot Officer Phillip Oscar Davis (115138) (RAFVR)
Sergeant Albert John Flower (657774) (RAF)
Flying Officer Albert William Little (J/11494) (RCAF)
Flight Sergeant William Robert McLellan (R/113865) (RCAF)
Sergeant Jack Oxley (1148302) (RAFVR)
Flight Sergeant Raymond Douglas Crowley Smith (413709) (Pilot)
Flying Officer Jack Collingridge Valder (403245) (Wireless Operator)
Sergeant Desmond Arthur Woods (1381747) (RAFVR)
It is not possible to determine from the Casualty Signal those members who were flying as crew.
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, 166/38/230
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line