LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant David Maitland WATTS
Service No: 402425
Born: Sydney NSW, 9 January 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 19 August 1940
Unit: No. 108 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 108 Squadron Wellington aircraft AD629), Libya/Egypt area, 12 August 1942, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of David Walter Montagu Watts and Edith Mabel Watts, of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Sydney NSW
Remembered: Column 266, Alamein Memorial, Egypt
Remembered: Panel 132, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 23 November 1941, Flight Sergeant Watts and Flight Lieutenant Clive Gordon Thompson DFC & Bar (402453) were interned in Portugal when a Wellington aircraft in transit to the Mediterranean Area made a forced landing at Lisbon.
At 1946 hours on 12 August 1942 Wellington AD629 took off to carry out an operational sortie against Tobruk. Nothing further was heard of the aircraft or crew members after take-off. In 1948 it was recorded that all the crew members lost their lives and have no known graves.
The crew members of AD629 were:
Flying Officer William Gengos (402864) (Second Pilot)
Pilot Officer Roy Bertram Harris (112554) (RAFVR) (Navigator) No. 458 Squadron RAAF attached to No. 108 Squadron
Sergeant Morris David Hart (402596) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Sergeant Athol Louis Opas (400354) (Wireless Operator)
Sergeant John Holman Taylor (1281936) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Flight Sergeant David Maitland Watts (402425) (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, 163/176/187