HAY, John Alexander
| Service Numbers: | 429152, N163137 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 27 October 1942 |
| Last Rank: | Flight Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | No. 9 Squadron (RAF) |
| Born: | Bendigo, Victoria, Australia, 26 February 1922 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Bank Clerk |
| Died: | Died of wounds - Wellington bomber crash during bombing training, Barford St.John, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, 10 December 1944, aged 22 years |
| Cemetery: |
Oxford (Botley) Cemetery, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom Plot H/3. Grave 77. |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, International Bomber Command Centre Memorial, Melbourne Cricket Club WW2 Honour Roll |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Flight Sergeant, 429152 | |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Dec 1941: | Involvement Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Trooper, N163137, 12th Light Horse Regiment, (GPIII) - Clerk | |
| 22 Aug 1942: | Promoted Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Corporal, 12th Light Horse Regiment, 12 LH became 12 Motor Regiment | |
| 24 Oct 1942: | Transferred Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Corporal, General Details Depot, 'To G.D.D. For disposal to RAAF' | |
| 27 Oct 1942: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Sergeant, 429152 | |
| 5 Dec 1942: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Corporal, N163137, General Details Depot, 'discharged, being required for services to R.A.A.F' | |
| 17 Nov 1943: | Involvement Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Sergeant, No. 9 Squadron (RAF), RAAF MEMBER ATTACHED TO RAF BOMBER COMMAND (No. 9 Squadron RAF) No. 91 GROUP OPERATIONAL TRAINING UNIT: No. 21 Operational Training Unit (RAF) Around half of the WWII RAAF casualties were sustained in RAF Bomber Command by RAAF members serving in Article XV RAAF Squadrons or attached to RAF and RCAF Squadrons under the Air Training Plan (Empire Air Training Scheme) arrangements. The Air Training Scheme (known as the Empire Air Training Scheme in Australia) was an Agreement between the Governments of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand that there shall be set up a co-operative air training scheme and that the personnel so trained shall be allocated in accordance with Articles 14 and 15 of the Agreement. Article 14 led to the attachment of large numbers of RAAF Aircrew Members to mostly RAF Squadrons and Units, and Article 15 (usually shown in Roman Numerals (XV)) led to the creation of 17 RAAF Squadrons, Nos. 450 – 467 (less No. 465). https://staging.aviationmuseumwa.org.au/afcraaf-roll/volume-1-chapter-04/ | |
| 10 Dec 1944: | Wounded Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Sergeant, 429152, RAAF MEMBER ATTACHED TO RAF BOMBER COMMAND No. 91 GROUP OPERATIONAL TRAINING UNIT: No. 21 Operational Training Unit (RAF) Killed during a training exercise |
Help us honour John Alexander Hay's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Sian Carlyon
John Alexander Hay was born on 26th February 1922 in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia.
He was the second of three sons for Eric Alexander Hay and Vera Eileen (Evyleen) Hay (nee Whitehead). His older brother, Robert, became a highly decorated professional soldier of the highest rank in Australia. All three sons saw military service.
While at school, John served 5 years as a military cadet. On leaving school, he became a bank clerk and then enlisted in 1941, in Tamworth NSW, with the Australian Military Forces (Army) as a Trooper (clerk) in the 12 Light Horse Regiment. Later the regiment was renamed 12 Motor Regiment and in August 1942, he was made Acting Corporal.
In October 1942, John was transferred across from the Army and enlisted into the Royal Australian Air Force. Subsequently he was then discharged from Army Service 'being required for services to R.A.A.F.'
After completing RAAF pilot training in Australia, he was posted as a Flight Sergeant attached to the No. 21 Operational Training Unit (RAF), Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire, part of the No. 91 Group Operational Training Unit, under RAF Bomber Command. Here, he underwent further training with the RAF under the Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS).
Sadly, it was here on the evening of 9 December 1944 that the Wellington Bomber John was pilotting, accidentally crashed during a bomber training exercise. Aged 22, he died of his injuries in the wee hours of the 10 December, along with four others of his British crew. One other crewmate survived and was treated for shock.
John was buried in the Oxford (Botley) Cemetery, Oxford, Oxfordshire, UK. His epitaph reads:
HIS DUTY FEARLESSLY AND NOBLY DONE.
EVER REMEMBERED.
.........
The official account:
"At 1820 hours on the night of 9 December 1944, Wellington BJ782 took off from Moreton-in-
Marsh detailed to carry out night cross-country training. At some time prior to 2145 hours, the starboard engine caught fire at 5,000 feet. Unable to establish their precise position, the crew broadcast a number of distress calls and as a result were given a course that would take them to Barford St John (6 miles away).
Eyewitnesses here saw the aircraft in the circuit, losing height, but as it entered the funnels the engine note increased as if the crew were intending too overshoot. However, after crossing the airfield, the aircraft dived suddenly and came down on a railway embankment on the east north east side of the aerodrome, near the village of Adderbury and burst into flames. Five of the crew members were killed and one was treated for shock at the station sick quarters.
The crew members of BJ782 were:
Sergeant Arthur Barker (1621971) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant James Hogg Bell (1537760) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Reginald George Clements (1875077) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant W H Donaldson (1597119) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner) Injured, Suffered shock
Flight Sergeant John Alexander Hay (429152) (Pilot)
Sergeant William Robinson (3012168) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)"
......
The Australian Government signed up to the Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS), under which the Royal Australian, New Zealand and Canadian Air Forces would train aircrews to be loaned to the Royal Air Force. Most would serve in British squadrons, though some would be posted to 'Article XV', or '400-series' squadrons. These squadrons were raised by the RAF but with their nationality officially recognised - for instance, 460 Squadron RAAF, to which the famous Lancaster G for George at the Australian War Memorial belonged. Many aircrews who survived their tours of duty returned to Australia to serve in RAAF squadrons and as instructors.
Training of EATS recruits took place in Australia, Canada, Rhodesia and Britain. By war's end, almost 40,000 Australians had been sent overseas under this scheme, serving in Europe, the Middle East, Burma and other places.
Many men in Australia and overseas died in training accidents. Many who graduated from courses flew with Bomber Command, which had the highest operational loss rate of any British Commonwealth force in the war.
.......
Sources: (also see links area)
DVA Nominal Rolls WWII (nominal-rolls.dva.gov.au)
Wikitree entry (www.wikitree.com)