LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Donald Ian STEWART
Service No: 401091
Born: Broken Hill NSW, 6 April 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 6 January 1941
Unit: No. 461 Squadron, RAF Hamworthy UK
Died: Air Operations: (No. 461 Squadron Sunderland aircraft T9113), Bay of Biscay, 1 September 1942, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William Henry Dugald Stewart and Elsie May Stewart, of Greenwich, New South Wales, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Sydney NSW
Remembered: Panel 111, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 108, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Rathmines Memorial Bowling Club, Rathmines NSW
Again the enemy showed bitter air opposition to these Bay (of Biscay) patrols and Australians had five combats early in the month, one resulting in the loss of a No. 461 Sunderland on 1st September (1942).
Extract from Herington, J. (John) (406545) Air War Against Germany and Italy 1939-1943, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1954 – Page 294
On 1st September 1942 Pilot Officer R Hosband and crew in Sunderland T9113 (UT-F) disappeared while on an anti-submarine patrol over the Bay. The only reports received from the aircraft were that they were being attacked by two Ju-88s, then an SOS. Nothing further was heard.
The crew members of T9113 were:
Sergeant Norman Jack Alecock (1156113) (RAFVR) (Flight Mechanic / Air Gunner)
Sergeant Donald Maurice Bowd (903991) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant Roy Victor Chinnery (406611) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Louis Gordon Emrys-Jones (400272) (Third Pilot)
Sergeant Ernest Richard Eva (405202) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Cyril Ernest Hayward (1001001) (RAFVR) (Flight Mechanic / Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Robert Henry Holloway Hosband (404734) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Samuel King (626282) (RAF) (Wireless Mechanic / Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Donald Ian Stewart (401091) (Observer / Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Oscar Lovelock Wennholm (403613) (Second Pilot)
Sergeant Joseph Ingelby White (1098657) (RAFVR) (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 A9186, 148 (No. 461 Squadron Operations Record Book)
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line
Bibliography:
Ashworth, N. (Norman) The ANZAC Squadron: A history of No. 461 Squadron RAAF 1942-5, Hesperian Press Victoria Park WA 6100
Baff, K.C (Kevin), Maritime is Number Ten; the Sunderland era, K.C. Baff Netley SA, 1983
Joubert, P.B. (Sir Phillip Bennet) Birds and Fishes: the story of Coastal Command, Hutchinson and Company London, 1960
Southall, I.F. (Ivan Francis) (418900) They Shall Not Pass Unseen, Angus and Robertson Sydney NSW, 1956
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Anson, Hudson and Sunderland in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1992