LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Egbert Watts WALL
Service No: 405281
Born: Beenleigh QLD, 19 July 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 2 March 1941
Unit: No. 202 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 202 Squadron Catalina aircraft EP124), 3 November 1942, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Egbert Hart Wall and Stella Wall, of Bald Hills, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 5, Column 1, Malta Memorial, Malta
Remembered: Panel 132, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 0113 hours on 3 November 1942 Catalina EP124 took off, to carry out convoy escort duties in the Western Mediterranean. At 0855 hours signal was received from EP124 “made contact with convoy.” Nothing further was heard from the aircraft and it did not return to base. It was due to return by 1800 hours. Following post war investigations and enquiries, it was recorded in 1948 that the missing crew members had lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of EP124 were:
Pilot Officer Roland Dean Ambrose (118492) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant Thomas Bailey (527173) (RAF) (Flight Mechanic/Air Gunner)
Sergeant Charles Lynn Cockburn (971612) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Thomas Elder (576091) (RAF) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Ronald Austen Seymour Mitchell (927808) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Flight Lieutenant Terence Aubrey David Sassoon (102573) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant Kenneth James Thorne (1054379) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flying Officer Egbert Watts Wall (405281) (Observer)
Sergeant Harold Hayden Warren (1260652) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator/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, 163/63/192