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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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489 Squadron Crest
14/15.09.1942 No. 489 Squadron Hampden TBI AD795 XA-K F/O. Murray

Operation: U-Boat search

Date: 14/15th September 1942 (Monday/Tuesday)

Unit: No. 489 Squadron (18 Group - Coastal Command)

Type: Hampden TB I

Serial: AD795

Code: XA-K

Base: RAF Skitten, Caithness, Scotland

Location: Lost without trace - North Sea

Pilot: F/O. Thomas Donald Gordon Murray NZ/404925 RNZAF Age 29. Missing - believed killed

Obs: Sgt. Charles Henry Brandon NZ/404958 RNZAF Age 24. Missing - believed killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. Alexander George Brown NZ/41568 RNZAF Age 21. Killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. Douglas Newman NZ/41602 RNZAF Age 25. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Taking off at 17:35 hrs on a U-Boat search north of the Shetland Isles.

At 02:17 hrs they signalled that they were short of fuel and that they may have to 'ditch'. (The Hampden cruised at 206 mph - had a range of 1,720 miles with full fuel load and carrying 910 kg bomb load).


At 02:20 they called again: 'will have to land in the sea'.

Then SOS signals were received between 02:22 and 02:27 hrs.


They were then able to be plotted to be about 60 miles East of Rattray Head in Aberdeenshire.

Eight aircraft were sent the following morning to search for the crew - nothing was found and they returned to base.

The body of Sgt. Newman was washed up near Husum and that of Sgt. Brown at Sylt. Buried locally but reinterred after the end of hostilities at Kiel.

(Above images reproduced under licence from Auckland (New Zealand) Library, Sir George Grey Special Collection. Sgt. Charles Henry Brandon: AWNS19421216-23-26, F/O. Thomas Donald Gordon Murray: AWNS0929-20-3, Sgt. Douglas Newman: AWNZ19421216-22-31. Sgt. Alexander George Brown: Air Force Museum of New Zealand)

Burial details:

F/O. Thomas Donald Gordon Murray. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 114. Son of Leslie Gordon Murray and Francis Alice Mary Murray, of Orakei, Auckland, New Zealand. 336 flying hours logged and had completed 3 operational sorties.

Sgt. Charles Henry Brandon. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 117. Son of Leslie Gordon Murray and Francis Alice Mary Murray, of Orakei, Auckland, New Zealand. 304 flying hours logged and had completed some operational sorties.

Sgt. Alexander George Brown. Kiel War Cemetery. Grave 4.H.3. Son of George Brown and Rakiki Tipoki, of Cook Islands, New Zealand. 172 flying hours logged and had completed some operational sorties.

Sgt. Douglas Newman. Kiel War Cemetery. Grave 3.C.5. Son of James and Louisa Emily Newman, of Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. 173 flying hours logged and had completed 4 operational sorties.

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

KTY 18.10.2018

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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 Captain 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', Andrew Mielnik: Archiwum - Polish Air Force Archive (on this site), Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Franek Grabowski, Polish graves: https://niebieskaeskadra.pl/, PoW Museum Żagań, 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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