LEST WE FORGET
Leading Aircraftman Stanley William WELLINGTON
Service No: 426201
Born: Winton QLD, 30 July 1914
Enlisted in the RAAF: 23 May 1942
Unit: No. 5 Elementary Flying Training School, Narromine NSW
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 5 Elementary Flying Training School Tiger Moth aircraft A17-342), near Mudgee NSW, 2 December 1942, Aged 28 Years
Buried: Narromine General Cemetery, NSW
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Archibald Horace and Henrietta Maria Wellington; husband of Marjorie Wellington, of Lutwyche, Queensland
Roll of Honour: Blackall QLD
Remembered: Panel 117, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 2 December 1942, Tiger Moth A17-342 was detailed to carry out a dual cross country exercise from Narromine to Mudgee and return. Having refuelled at Mudgee, A17-342 took off from Mudgee aerodrome at 1410 hours. Approximately 14 miles north-west of Mudgee, the aircraft developed violent vibrations, and the next thing Sergeant Stephens the Instructor pilot, saw was the starboard lower main plane collapse. He instructed the Student Pilot, Leading Aircraftman Wellington, to abandon the aircraft three times but he could not say whether the he did actually abandon the aircraft. The aircraft went into a tight spin and the only way that Sergeant Stephens could abandon it was by pulling himself up by the central struts and going out over the engine, which would point to the fact that the propeller had come adrift from the aircraft. From evidence obtained it appeared that neither of the occupants abandoned the aircraft until it was at an approximately height of 400 feet from the ground. Stephens’ parachute opened just before he reached the ground safely. It was considered that Leading aircraftman Wellington failed to pull the ripcord and undid the quick release of his parachute and was killed.
The crew members of A17-342 were:
Sergeant Alfred Chester Stephens (32524) (Instructor Pilot) Baled out, Discharged from the RAAF: 20 December 1945
Leading Aircraftman Stanley William Wellington (426201) (Student Pilot Dual)
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, 163/177/396