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Archive Report: Allied Forces

Compiled from official National Archive and Service sources, contemporary press reports, personal logbooks, diaries and correspondence, reference books, other sources, and interviews.
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RAF Crest
No. 2 Aircraft Delivery Unit Spitfire Vb ER544 Sgt. Murray Waldron Bentley

Operation: Delivery flight

Date: 12th January 1943 (Tuesday)

Unit: No. 2 Aircraft Delivery Unit. 216 Group

Type: Spitfire Vb

Serial: ER544

Code: -

Base: LG 209 Deversoir, Egypt

Location: Lost without trace

Pilot: Sgt. Murray Waldron Bentley NZ/413806 RFNZAF Age 20. Missing - believed killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Very little is known but took off at 09:45 hrs on a delivery flight to Ajdabiya - he failed to arrive.

Placed this page to him as very little is recorded on this type of accident. Of course we welcome any new information.

Burial details:

Sgt. Murray Waldron Bentley. Alamein Memorial. Column 278. Born on the 11th March 1922 at Ovalau, the son of Henry Arthur Bord Bentley and Jessie Eleanor Bentley (née Waldron), of Auckland City, New Zealand. Prior to enlisting on the 06th July 1941 worked as an advertising clerk for the Auckland Star. A total of 301 flying hours were logged.

His brother, P/O. Robert Henry Waldron NZ/414580 RNZAF (shown left) was also missing believed killed just a few months later on the 06th May 1943. 75 Squadron Stirling I EF340 AA-Q P/O. Bentley flying as the navigator, the Australian pilot 20-year-old, P/O. Reginald Francis Westwood AUS/416471 RAAF also lost along with all the crew (3 New Zealanders, 1 from Northern Ireland, 2 from England) after being shot down in the Waddenzee in Holland on a 'Gardening' operation.

Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this pilot with thanks to Jenifer Lemaire and to the extensive research by Errol Martyn and his publications: “For Your Tomorrow Vols. 1-3”, Auckland Library Heritage Collection, Weekly News of New Zealand, other sources as quoted below:

KTY - 02.01.2020

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Acknowledgements
Sources used by us in compiling Archive Reports include: Bill Chorley - 'Bomber Command Losses Vols. 1-9, plus ongoing revisions', Dr. Theo E.W. Boiten and Mr. Roderick J. Mackenzie - 'Nightfighter War Diaries Vols. 1 and 2', Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt - 'Bomber Command War Diaries', Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Tom Kracker - Kracker Luftwaffe Archives, Michel Beckers, Major Fred Paradie (RCAF) and MWO François Dutil (RCAF) - Paradie Archive (on this site), Jean Schadskaje, Major Jack O'Connor USAF (Retd.), Robert Gretzyngier, Wojtek Matusiak, Waldemar Wójcik and Józef Zieliński - 'Ku Czci Połeglyçh Lotnikow 1939-1945', Archiwum - Polish Air Force Archive (on this site), Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Franek Grabowski, Norman L.R. Franks 'Fighter Command Losses', Stan D. Bishop, John A. Hey MBE, Gerrie Franken and Maco Cillessen - Losses of the US 8th and 9th Air Forces, Vols 1-6, Dr. Theo E.W. Boiton - Nachtjagd Combat Archives, Vols 1-13. Aircrew Remembered Databases and our own archives. We are grateful for the support and encouragement of CWGC, UK Imperial War Museum, Australian War Memorial, Australian National Archives, New Zealand National Archives, UK National Archives and Fold3 and countless dedicated friends and researchers across the world.
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Last Modified: 24 April 2022, 15:22

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