GARDINER, Desmond Edward James
| Service Numbers: | 1198, 251432 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 3 June 1927 |
| Last Rank: | Flight Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | Aircraft / Repair / Salvage Depots |
| Born: | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 27 November 1902 |
| Home Town: | Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Unknown |
| Occupation: | Inspector of aircraft civil aviation/Fitter & Turner |
| Died: | Flying Battle, Yugoslavia, 16 July 1944, aged 41 years |
| Cemetery: |
Belgrade War Cemetery, Serbia |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Jun 1927: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, 1198, Aircraft / Repair / Salvage Depots |
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Non Warlike Service
| 24 Feb 1930: | Discharged Royal Australian Air Force, 1198 |
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World War 2 Service
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Flight Lieutenant, 251432 | |
|---|---|---|
| Date unknown: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Lieutenant, 251432 |
Help us honour Desmond Edward James Gardiner's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Faithe Jones
GARDINER.— On July 17, on special operational flight, overseas, Flt.-Lieut. Desmond Edward James Gardiner, R.A.F., dearly loved brother of Ernest, and brother-in-law of Kit. Greater love hath no man.
GARDINER.—On July 17, on special opation flight overseas, Flight-Lieut. Desmond Edward James Gardiner, dearly loved husband of Rose.
St. Kilda Pilot Killed Flying
MRS. R. GARDINER, of Grey-st., St. Kilda has been officially advised of the death of her husband, Flight-Lieut. Desmond Edward James Gardiner, on a special operational flight over Jugoslavia on July 16. 1944. Flight-Lieutenant Gardiner was pilot of a plane which carried Captain Randolph Churchill, son of the British Prime Minister, and Mr. Evelyn Waugh, the English novelist, to Jugoslavia.
Capt. Churchill and Mr. Waugh were the only survivors of a crash in which all the crew lost their lives.
Flight - Lieut. Gardiner was a member of the R.A.A.F. from June, 1927, until his appointment in February, 1930, to the staff of the Civil Aviation Department, when he became ground engineer at Essendon aerodrome.
He later served in the Northern Territory as ground engineer on aircraft carrying mails between Daly Waters and Birdum. Promoted to inspector of aircraft in 1936 he was stationed at Essendon and spent some time at other capital cities and in New Guinea on relieving duties. Flight-Lieut. Gardiner was appointed a pilot in the R.A.A.F. Reserve on September 1, 1939, and transferred to the active list on May 27, 1941. After service as a flying instructor at a Victorian training station he transferred to Northern Australia as a Catalina pilot, and was subsequently posted to the Middle East for duty in air ambulances.
At the time of his death he was on special flying operations in Jugoslavia.
Biography contributed by David Barlow
Flight Lieutenant Gardiner 251432 (Pilot) was killed when Dakota KG472 of Number 267 Squadron RAF crashed in Yugoslavia
The aircraft was on a mission to insert British Army personnel who were to act as liaison officers by landing at an airstrip built by partisan forces
The ten survivors of the crash included Major Randolf Churchill (the son of Winston Churchill) and the novelist, Captain Evelyn Waugh who was then a Commando
Biography contributed
Desmond Edward James GARDINER was born in Collingwood, Melbourne on 27th November, 1902
His parents were Edgar Robert Watson GARDINER & Lucy Margaret DAVIES
He married Rose Irene LEE in Victoria in 1931
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His father Edgar served in the Boer War (SN 1280) and WW1 (SN 257)