LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant James Charlton WHITTALL
From Australia serving in the Royal Air Force
Service No: 39356 (RAF)
Born: Neutral Bay NSW, 10 January 1916
Enlisted in the RAF: Date unavailable
Unit: No. 203 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 203 Squadron Blenheim IV aircraft L9237), Aegean Sea, 27 April 1941, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Charlton and Mary D P Whittall, of Chelsea, London. Master Mariner, Merchant Navy
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Column 240, Alamein Memorial, Egypt
Remembered: Commemorative Roll, Australian War Memorial, Canberra
Blenheim L9237, one of three detailed to provide air cover for a convoy off the island of Hydra, took off from Heraklion at 0615 hours on 27 April 1941. A strong Luftwaffe force, comprising Ju 87s, Bf 110s and Bf 109s was encountered, and L9237 was last seen attacking a Bf 110 and diving steeply away.
The crew members of L9237 were:
Sergeant Thomas John Air (551804) (RAF)
Sergeant Stanley O’Connor (759226) (RAFVR)
Flight Lieutenant James Charlton Whittall (39365) (RAF) (Pilot)
References:
Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Gunby, David and Pelham Temple, Royal Air Force Bomber Losses in the Middle East and Mediterranean Volume 1 1939-1942, Midland Publishing, 2006