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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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122 Squadron Crest
07.02.1945 No 122 Squadron Mustang III FX989 Fl/Sgt. Elliot

Operation: Ramrod 1454

Date: 07th February 1945 (Wednesday)

Unit: No. 122 Squadron 83 Group (motto: Victuri volamus - 'We fly to conquer')

Type: Mustang III

Serial: FX989

Code: MT-Z

Base: RAF Andrews Field, Essex

Location: Anzegem, Belgium

Pilot: Fl/Sgt. Frank Burton Elliott AUS/419900 RAAF Age 22. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Taking off from RAF Andrews Field in Essex at 14:00 hrs in atrocious weather conditions. The weather worsened and a sweep over Munster was abandoned.

At around 15:00 hrs Fl/Sgt. Elliot called over the R/T to say that he was returning to base and shortly after that his aircraft was seen to explode in the air killing the pilot.

At the same time two other aircraft Mustang III FZ182 Flown by 24 year old, W/O. William John Luffman 1317567 RAFVR (126 Squadron) and Mustang III FB115 Flown by 24 year old, W/O. James Morgan Harris AUS/412534 RAAF (234 Squadron) suffered the same fate in almost identical circumstances and at the same time. Although a mid-air collision was considered a possibility at the time, the aircraft crashed at very different locations.

Another aircraft and pilot was also lost on this operation but reported as oxygen failure. Mustang III KH488 Flown by 25 year old, Fl/Lt. William Booth Brooks 134120 RAFVR.

Burial details:

Fl/Sgt. Frank Burton Elliott. Kortrijk Communal Cemetery (St. Jan). Row BB. Grave 18. Born on the 01st August 1922 at Mont Albert, the son of Kenyon Frank and Dorothy Lilian Elliott, of 8 Gordon Street, Mont Albert, Victoria, Australia. Friend of Miss. N.P. Rauber of 144 Olive Street, Albury, New South Wales. Grave inscription reads: "He Is Not Gone From Us But Lives A New Life For Our Freedom".

Others mentioned within this page:

Fl/Lt. William Booth Brooks. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 265. Son of John and Josephine Margaret Brooks, of Templeogue, Co. Dublin, Republic of Ireland.

W/O. William John Luffman. Schoonselhof Cemetery. Grave V.B.41. Son of Ralph and Mary Elizabeth Luffman, of Hoarwithy, Herefordshire, England. Grave inscription reads: 'Come Unto Me, All Ye That Labour And Are Heavy Laden, And I Will Give You Rest'.

W/O. James Morgan Harris. Heverlee War Cemetery. Grave I.G.9. Born on the 12th July 1920 at Bathurst, the son of Arthur Carrington Harris and Elizabeth Catherine Harris, of Bolton Vale, Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. Grave inscription reads: 'Greater Love Hath No Man Than This'.

For further details our thanks to the following sources shown below.

KTY 19.03.2019

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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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