LEST WE FORGET
Warrant Officer Harold Elsdon THORPE
Service No: 402419
Born: Elwood VIC, 27 January 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 19 August 1940 (at Sydney NSW)
Unit: No. 110 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 110 Squadron Vengeance aircraft EZ804), India, 21 April 1943, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Ranchi War Cemetery, India
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Frank Gordon Thorpe and Elsie Rebecca Thorpe, of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory.
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 131, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 21 April 1943 Vengeance EZ804 was approaching to join a formation led by Vengeance AN623 when the aircraft collided and crashed at Ranchi, India. All the crew members of EZ804 and one member of AN623 were killed.
The crew members of EZ804 were:
Corporal Donald Leslie Kay (927058) (RAFVR) (Fitter/Armourer)
Corporal James Stanley McKay (625522) (RAF) (Fitter II Engines)
Corporal John William Moseley (643677) (RAF) (Fitter II Airframe)
Warrant Officer Harold Elsdon Thorpe (402419) (Pilot)
The crew members of AN623 were:
Pilot Officer George Herbert Lawrenson (51017) (RAF) (Supernumerary) Fatally injured, Died: 23 April 1943
Flight Lieutenant David James Jock Ritchie (404357) (Pilot) Injured, Discharged from the RAAF: 22 October 1946
Flight Lieutenant R C D Vincent (136173) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner) Injured
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, 166/39/65
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line
Bibliography:
Ilbery, P.L.T. (Peter Leslie Thomas) (422957) Hatching an Air Force: 2SFTS, 5SFTS, 1BFTS Uranquinty and Wagga Wagga, Banner Books Maryborough QLD 4650, 2002