LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Arthur James TIPPETT
Service No: 401162
Born: Ballarat VIC, 5 October 1914
Enlisted in the RAAF: 3 January 1941
Unit: No. 415 (Swordfish) Squadron (RCAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 415 Squadron Hampden aircraft N9106), English Channel, 21 November 1942, Aged 28 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Mr. and Mrs. H. J. Tippett, of Highton, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 113, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 133, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Hampden N9106 took off at 0100 hours on 21 November 1942 to carry out a night torpedo attack. The weather was adverse with low cloud. A radio message was received from the aircraft at 7 hours 35 minutes after take off when the aircraft was near the limit of its endurance, but the aircraft could not be contacted again nor a bearing or fix obtained. The aircraft was new and in excellent condition. Three bodies were washed ashore in the vicinity of Wissant on the French coast 8 miles south west of Calais and are interred in the Pihen Les Guines New British Cemetery. In 1949 it was recorded that Sergeant Tippett had lost his life at sea.
The crew members of N9106 were:
Pilot Officer John Joseph Lynn (120916) (RAFVR) (Observer)
Sergeant Douglas Lloyd George Millar (411086) (RNZAF) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Sergeant Ronald Robert Theodore Sleep (411794) (RNZAF) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Sergeant Arthur James Tippett (401162) (Pilot)
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, 163/167/50