LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Charles Bruce SWINEY
Service No: 433246
Born: Murrurundi NSW, 10 January 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 27 February 1943
Unit: No. 15 (Pilot) Advanced Flying Unit (RAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 15 (Pilot) Advanced Flying Unit Oxford aircraft LK169), Worcestershire, 25 November 1944, Aged X26 Years
Buried: Bath (Haycombe) Cemetery, Somerset
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Charles William and Electra May Swiney, of Lane Cove, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Lane Cove NSW
Remembered: Panel 131, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1419 hours on 25 November 1944, Flight Sergeant Swiney flying Oxford LK169 took off detailed to carry out a solo non-operational cross-country flight, No 5 exercise. He was warned to turn back if a deterioration in the weather was experienced. The route was Base-Castle Combe-Lydney-Leominster-Smitterfield-Henley on Thames-Base. The aircraft failed to return from the exercise. Three other pilots on the same exercise had turned back because of the weather. Air and ground searches did not locate the aircraft until the 28 November. LK169 had crashed into the crest of Breddon Hill in Defford, and the pilot had been killed. A report into the accident considered it was an “error of judgement on the part of the pilot in descending below his safety height in conditions of poor visibility.”
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, 166/38/823