LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Reginald Francis WESTWOOD
Service No: 416471
Born: Sydney NSW, 18 October 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 23 June 1941
Unit: No. 75 Squadron (RAF), RAF Newmarket, Suffolk
Died: Air Operations (No. 75 Squadron Stirling aircraft EF340), North Sea, 5 May 1943, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Alphonso Charles and Margaret Amy Westwood, of Brooklyn Park, South Australia
Roll of Honour: Adelaide SA
Remembered: Panel 191, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 132, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
At 2153 hours on 5 May 1943 Stirling EF340 took off from RAF Station Newmarket for mine laying operations in the Nectarines area off the Friesian Islands. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. Following post war investigations and enquiries, it was recorded in 1949 that the missing crew had lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of EF340 were:
Sergeant Frederick Horace Bennetton (1281626) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Sergeant Robert Henry Waldron Bentley (414580) (RNZAF) (Navigator)
Sergeant John McLaren Boswell (414491) (RNZAF) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant William Harkness (1127681) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Erwin Henry Reuben Lamb (413709) (RNZAF) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Gilbert Humphreys Rogers (1382746) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Pilot Officer Reginald Francis Westwood (416471) (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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/43/179