Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

PILOT OFFICER JOHN WHITFIELD CARTER. Service Number: 412912
Royal Australian Air Force. Died 1 April 1944. Age 22 years old
Commemorated at Runnymede Memorial Panel 258.
Additional Info Son of Lt Col Herbert Gordon Carter, D.S.O.; MiD (3 times), and Lydia Kate Carter, of Wahroonga, New South Wales, Australia. Graduate of University of NSW.

Typhoon Mk IB 1-Apr-1944, MN145 SF-B, 137 Squadron, P/O J. W. Carter, failed to return to Manston from a night anti shipping patrol (Dunkerque – Vlissingen area) Lost without trace. was flying Hawker Typhoon JE535* which failed to return from a shipping patrol to Dunkirk - the aircraft ditched in the English Channel about 3 miles offshore from Flushing.
The weather was overcast and there was some hesitation about conducting the mission, but Pilot Officer Carter asked to go and seemed quite confident about it. At 2220 hours, he took off from Base with instructions to return to base immediately if he found the weather unsuitable.
At approximately 2325 hours Ops B phoned to say that Carter was OK and just setting course for home. By this time the weather had deteriorated and aircraft advised by radio to return to base. A searchlight canopy was put up over the aerodrome and all emergency steps taken, but nothing further was heard of the aircraft.
(*Note: The Typhoon serial is confusing, both are recorded as lost on 1st April with Carter as pilot! However Carter is misrecorded as being with 437 Squadron (a Transport Squadron!) and JE535 appears not to exist (indeed the entire JE series not found), so that identification is "less certain" than for MN145.) Carter only arrived at 137 2 weeks earlier on his promotion, and may have been his first “operational” flight.

Disclaimer: The above information has been collated from freely available internet sources, many not available previously. Any copyright remains with the original source. Errors are mine alone, so any corrections or expansion welcomed. Kevin Regan, Ninfield, England Aug 2021