LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Ronald Harvey Peet TUCKER
Service No: 414104
Born: Brisbane QLD, 6 September 1911
Enlisted in the RAAF: 20 July 1941
Unit: No. 38 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident: (No. 38 Squadron Wellington aircraft MP644), Libya, 20 September 1943, Aged 32 Years
Buried: Benghazi War Cemetery, Libya
CWGC Additional Information: Son of George Richard and Elizabeth Tucker, of Auchenflower, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Brisbane QLD
Remembered: Panel 131, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2300 hours on 20 September 1943 Wellington MP644 took off from the Berka III Landing Ground detailed to carry out a night operational flight. The aircraft crashed soon after take-off and all on board were killed.
A Court of Inquiry recorded their opinion of the accident as: “the aircraft became airborne from a very short distance along the flare path and then touched down again due to one of the following reasons: the cases of incendiaries had not been moved to a position nearer to the centre of gravity
of the aircraft thus making it difficult to control the aircraft on take-off; the aircraft developed nose heaviness due to either faulty trim by the pilot during cockpit drill; or inherent nose heaviness on take-off. When airborne for a short distance, the pilot applied his brakes as is the usual practice and when he touched down again was unable to release the brakes without allowing the control column to go forward. This resulted in a series of bounces with brakes on. In the final effort to become airborne the undercarriage was retracted but the wheels hit the raised roadway causing the aircraft to bounce and stall on the ground about 75 yards from the road, where the bombs exploded.”
The crew members of MP644 were:
Flying Officer Harry Everard Bazell (120022) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant Henry Jules Davey (1293557) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Charles Augustus Gough (1123757) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant James Sutherland Gunn (1434505) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Raymond Noble (133799) (RAFVR) (Second Pilot)
Flying Officer Ronald Harvey Peet Tucker (414104) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
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, 166/40/87