LITTLEJOHN, Gordon Brefny
| Service Number: | 401070 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 8 December 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Flight Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | No. 12 Squadron (RAAF) |
| Born: | Ivanhoe, Victoria, Australia, 15 July 1922 |
| Home Town: | Hawthorn, Boroondara, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Scotch College, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Student |
| Died: | Flying Battle, Germany, 7 September 1942, aged 20 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Runnymede Memorial, Surrey, England, United Kingdom |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, International Bomber Command Centre Memorial, Runnymede Air Forces Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Flight Sergeant, 401070 | |
|---|---|---|
| 8 Dec 1940: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Sergeant, 401070, No. 12 Squadron (RAAF) | |
| 7 Sep 1942: | Involvement Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Sergeant, 401070, No. 12 Squadron (RAAF), Air War NW Europe 1939-45 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Michael Silver
The younger of two sons of Dr Euan Ironside Littlejohn and his wife Mary Andrews of Hawthorn, Victoria, Gordon Brefny Littlejohn was educated at Scotch College, Melbourne where his grandfather William Still Littlejohn was headmaster for 30 years.
His brother, Dr William Euan Ironside Littlejohn OBE DSC enlisted with the RANVR and later served with distinction with the Royal Navy submarines.
As a youth, Gordon Littlejohn had a strong interest in flying, having undertaken extensive private training with Charles Daniel Pratt, the New Zealand aviator who served with the Royal Flying Corps during World War I and established a flying school and aviation business in Victoria after the war.
Enlisting with the RAAF in late 1940, Littlejohn was transferred to Canada for training in May 1941 before being assigned to the Royal Air Force during the following September. He spent much of his time at No. 23 Operational Training Unit at RAF Pershore, Worcestershire as part of No. 6 Group RAF Bomber Command training of night bomber crews using the Vickers Wellington. He was then posted to 12 Squadron at RAF Binbrook, Lincolnshire in August 1942.
At 00:59 on 7 September 1942 Wellington BJ691 (call sign PH-T) left RAF Binbrook loaded with 810 x 4lb (0.9kg) incendiary bombs. The aircraft was one of seven Wellington bombers assigned to bomb Duisberg, Germany that night. One aircraft crashed on take-off, whilst two others did not return to base.
The crew of Wellington BJ691 PH-T were: Flight Sergeant Gordon Brefny Littlejohn (RAAF) [Pilot], Sergeant G L Marshall [RAF) [Navigator], Sergeant Stanley Marsden (RAAF) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner], Sergeant F H Wilson (RAF) [Bomb Aimer], Sergeant F R Carruthers (RCAF) [Rear Gunner]. The aircraft failed to return from the operational flight with nothing heard from aircraft after take off. The plane and crew were lost without trace.
The lost airmen are memorialised on the Runnymede Air Forces War Memorial on Cooper's Hill at Englefield Green near Windsor.
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