Archive Report: Allied Forces

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02.10.1941 58 OTU. Spitfire I P9497 Plt Off. Everiss

Operation: Training

Date: 2nd October 1941 (Thursday)

Unit: 58 OTU (Operational Training Unit)

Type: Spitfire I

Serial: P9497

Base: RAF Grangemouth, Scotland

Location: Cowie, near Bannockburn, Stirlingshire, Scotland

Pilot: Plt Off. Carlyle Gray Everiss 41318 RNZAF Age 27. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

During a tail chasing exercise the Spitfire which was flying at 5,000 ft was witnessed to go into a spin from which he failed to recover and crashed into a railway embankment at 17:20 hrs. An eye witness stated that it looked like the pilot was trying to steer the aircraft away from a row of houses in Cowie and that they felt he could have baled out. However it appears that he was simply not in control of †he aircraft at the time.

He was buried at Grandsable Cemetery, Grangemouth in the afternoon of the 6th October 1941. Plt Off. Everiss was the only New Zealand fatality at 58 OTU.

In 2007 the villagers of Cowie, Scotland unveiled a bronze bust for which they had collected over £12.000. The event was also covered in the National and local press.

Above Grangemouth (Grandsable) Cemetery (photographed by Aircrew Remembered)

Burial Details:

Plt Off. Carlyle Gray Everiss. Gransable Cemetery. Section 1. Grave 19. Born on the 3rd December 1914 at Gisborne. Son of Frederick and of Murielle Octavia (née Gray) Everiss, of Gisborne, Auckland, New Zealand. Husband of Phyllis Elizabeth (née Ferris) Everiss, of Te Kuiti, Auckland, New Zealand.

Prior to enlisting on the 19th January 1941 a timber worker for C.E. Hammond. A total of 144 flying hours logged.

Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this pilot with thanks to the research by Errol Martyn and his publications: “For Your Tomorrow Vols. 1-3”, Auckland War Memorial Museum, Weekly News of New Zealand. Thanks to Robert for the correction to the maiden name of the wife of Plt Off. Everiss (Jul 2021). Other sources as quoted below:

A word from the Editor: your contribution is important. We welcome your comments and information. Thanks in advance.

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