LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant John Joseph WALSH
Service No: 422770
Born: Balmain NSW, 22 July 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 23 May 1942
Unit: No. 7 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit (RAF), RAF Station Limavady
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 7 Operational Training Unit Wellington aircraft LB247), Northern Ireland, 5 November 1943, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Limavady (St Mary) Roman Catholic Cemetery, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John Joseph and Mary Madeline Walsh, of Enfield, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Enfield NSW
Remembered: Panel 132, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Strathfield World war II Roll of Honour, Strathfield NSW
On 5 November 1943, Wellington LB247 took off from Limavady detailed to carry out a non-operational day training exercise, which required the Instructor to demonstrate to the Pilot under instruction and crew practice torpedo attacks on HM ships in the local area off Loch Foyle. The aircraft crashed at 1600 hours one mile east of Limavady and Flight Sergeant Walsh was killed, and the remainder of the crew members were injured. The accident was considered due to the inexperience of the Instructor and the sudden arrival of frontal conditions while the aircraft was in the circuit area. The Pilot under instruction lost sight of the ground and struck high ground in making too wide a circuit. He was not held to blame for the accident.
The crew members of LB247 were:
Flying Officer W T K Dickson (R/20737) (RCAF) (Pilot under instruction) Injured
Pilot Officer O H Jennie (R/24256) (RCAF) (Second Pilot) Injured
Flying Officer Billy McFadden DFM (404360) (Instructor Pilot) Injured, Discharged from the RAAF: 18 September 1946
Flying Officer Loyal Francis McInnes (414296) (O210312) (Navigator) Injured, Discharged from the RAAF: 22 November 1945
Flight Sergeant Ray Alexander Smythe (426186) (Wireless Air Gunner) Injured, Killed on Air Operations: 23 March 1944
Flight Sergeant John Joseph Walsh (42277) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Maurice Williams (426210) (Wireless Air Gunner) Injured, Discharged from the RAAF: 13 December 1945
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, 166/43/405
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line