LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant James Murray SYNNOTT
Service No: 400442
Born: Adelaide SA, 10 September 1916
Enlisted in the RAAF: 2 September 1940 (at Melbourne VIC)
Unit: No. 27 Operational Training Unit (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 27 Operational Training Unit Wellington aircraft R1162), North West Europe, 26 June 1942, Aged 25 years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Mr. and Mrs. P. J. Synnott, of St. Kilda, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 113, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 131, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Wellington R1162 took off shortly before midnight on 25 June 1942 on a night operation against Bremen, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off, and it did not return to base. Other crews reported that the aircraft was possibly shot down over the target. Following post war enquiries and investigations, it was recorded in 1949 that the missing crew members had no known graves.
The crew members of R1162 were:
Sergeant Neville Holt Cox (405174) (Observer)
Pilot Officer Thomas Fraser Lamb (J/7422) (RCAF) (Pilot)
Sergeant James Bruce Mathers (403940) (Observer)
Sergeant Kenneth Hastings Poynting (403786) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Sergeant James Murray Synnott (400442) (Air Gunner)
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, 163/164/114