LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Reginald Allan WHITE
Service No: 405142
Born: Sydney NSW, 31 October 1913
Enlisted in the RAAF: 2 February 1941(at Brisbane QLD)
Unit: No. 5 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit (RAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 5 Operational Training Unit Beaufort aircraft L4445), Devon, 1 March 1942, Aged 28 Years
Buried: Heanton Punchardon (St Augustine) Churchyard, Devon
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Thomas Malcolm and Lillian White; husband of Lillian Beatrice White, of Punchbowl, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Lakemba NSW
Remembered: Panel 132, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Municipality of Hunters Hill War Memorial Honour Rolls, Hunters Hill NSW
On 1 March 1942 Beaufort L4445 was detailed to carry out a low level bombing training exercise. The aircraft took off at 1005 hours and during the exercise the aircraft struck the water and crashed.
A later Court of Inquiry found that the primary cause of the crash was the aircraft hitting the water of the River Taw, causing the port propeller to come off. A secondary cause was the stalling of the port wing during an attempt to carry out a forced landing due to the pilot attempted to reach the aerodrome with insufficient power or height to do so and the use of flaps in the final stages of the approach. Two of the crew members were killed and one was slightly injured.
The crew members of L4445 were:
Pilot Officer Rafe Sherme Brimacombe (J/6003) (RCAF) (Pilot)
Sergeant P Scott (404636) (RNZAF) (Wireless Air Gunner) Slightly injured
Pilot Officer Reginald Allan White (405142) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
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, 163/63/131
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line