LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant John William TURNER
Service No: 4122
Born: Sydney NSW, 29 June 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 6 March 1939 (at RAAF Station Laverton VIC)
Unit: No. 55 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 55 Squadron Blenheim aircraft V5423), off Benghazi, 1 April 1941, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John and Margaret Turner; husband of Yvonne Ella Turner, of Newmarket, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Sydney NSW
Remembered: Panel 246, Alamein Memorial, Egypt
Remembered: Panel 131, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 1 April 1941, Blenheim V5423 took off from Marawa to reconnoitre the Tripoli area. The aircraft was shot down into the sea south west of Benghazi and the crew were sighted in a dinghy but later could not be found.
The crew members of V5423 were:
Flying Officer Maxwell Stewart Ferguson (40523) (RAF) (Pilot)
Lieutenant Alexander Allan Pettigrew (RN) (Observer)
Sergeant John William Turner (4122) (Wireless Air Gunner)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
Gunby D (David) and Pelham Temple, Royal Air Force Bomber Losses in the Middle East and Mediterranean, Volume 1 1939-1942, Midland Publishing UK, 2006
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A9301, 4122