Service No. 407606

Date of Birth: 16 Jul 1921

Place of Birth: ORROROO, SA

Date of Enlistment: 11 Nov 1940

Date of Discharge: 1 Aug 1945

Rank: Flight Lieutenant

Date of Death: Dec 2009

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Crew:

• E. BARBER - RAAF

• R. RASHEED - RAAF

• E. ROONEY- RAF

• P. GALLAGHER – RCAF

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Ross served with 459 from 7 July 1942 to August 1943. One of the first mentions of Ross in Prof. Kane Maguire’s book Desert Scorpions is on page 49, where the Hudson flight FH296 was recalled by Ross.

 

As the Wireless Operator in Col Barber’s aircraft, the flight was fairly uneventful until they reached the North African coast west of Mersa Matruh. As they flew along the coast they could see a large number of vehicles going east, but assumed they were British.

 

When they landed at Mersa Matruh, they had just come to a stop when Fred Dolly accidentally fired the turret machine guns.

 

Surprised by this, Ross looked out from the astrodome and saw a jeep crammed with chaps racing out towards us. They pulled alongside and shouted at us in a guttural voice, we thought for a moment that we had become POWs before our war had even started!

 

Fortunately, they turned out to be South Africans and told us, “The enemy is only a few hours away, we will give you a bite to eat and refuel you – then you had better get away immediately”, which we did.