LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Alexander Allan WEIR
Service No: 405369
Born: Brisbane QLD, 19 August 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 3 March 1941
Unit: No. 14 Operational Training Unit (RAF)
Died: Injuries from Air Operations (No. 14 Operational Training Unit Hampden aircraft P1293), England, 2 June 1942, Aged 19 Years
Buried: Cottesmore (St Nicholas) Churchyard Extension, Rutland
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Albert Allen Weir and Ethel Maude Weir, of Cloncurry, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Cloncurry QLD
Remembered: Panel 132, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At about 2300 hours on the night of 1 June 1942 Hampden I P1293 took off from RAF Cottesmore to bomb Essen, Germany. The bombs had just been released on the target when the aircraft was hit by a British incendiary bomb which penetrated the aircraft and seriously injured Sergeant Weir, the Rear Gunner. The aircraft returned to base with the rest of the crew uninjured, but Sergeant Weir died of his wounds on the 2 June 1942.
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, 163/177/274