MCCOUAT, John Battison
| Service Number: | 411924 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 21 June 1941 |
| Last Rank: | Warrant Officer |
| Last Unit: | Not yet discovered |
| Born: | Marrickville, New South Wales, Australia, 22 October 1910 |
| Home Town: | Griffith, Australian Capital Territory |
| Schooling: | Sydney Technical School, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation: | Survey Draughtsman |
| Died: | Aircraft accident, Vavuniya Sri Lanka (Ceylon), 1 November 1944, aged 34 years |
| Cemetery: |
Liveramentu Cemetery, Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Warrant Officer, 411924 | |
|---|---|---|
| 21 Jun 1941: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Warrant Officer, 411924 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Anthony Vine
Warrant Officer John (Jack) Battison McCouat 411924 RAAF
Jack McCouat was born in Marrickville NSW in October 1910, the ninth of eleven children born to John and Janet McCouat. The family had emigrated from Scotland in 1909 settling in Sydney, where Jack attended the Sydney Technical School. He enlisted in the RAAF in June 1941 as an aircrew enlistee under the Empire Air Training Scheme. His father John passed away in 1917 leaving 44 year old Janet to raise the children alone. Jack’s older brother Angus served in the Militia as a Private and younger brothers Stanley in the AIF as a Private, and Allan in the RAAF as Wireless Operator Air Gunner. Allan finished the war as a Flight Lieutenant.
Jack, a survey draughtsman by profession, and living in Canberra, was called up for service in June 1941 and after initial training at Bradfield Park in Sydney he completed Observer’s training at Number 1 Bombing and Gunnery School at Evans Head and at Parkes before proceeding overseas to the United Kingdom in November 1942. Jack had married his wife Leila since 1940 and they had a son Malcolm.
In the UK Jack trained a completed training at a Radio School, most probably in the use of Radar and at a General Reconnaissance School before undertraining Operational training at 9 OTU at RAF Aldergrove in Northern Island. He then proceeded to Ceylon via Karachi finally joining 22 Squadron RAF to fly as the observer on Bristal Beaufighters. Soon after arriving on the squadron he was slightly injured in an aircraft accident at Vavuniya in Ceylon when the throttle cable broke and the aircraft swung and overturned on landing.
On the first of November 1944 Jack was the observer on Beaufighter X NE748 with fellow Australian, Pilot Officer Victor Boyd-Gerney 408958 as his pilot, when their aircraft crashed on take-off, colliding with a parked Spitfire and a wireless telegraph trailer. Jack and a member of the ground crew were killed, and a number of other men, including a South African major who was a passenger in the plane, injured.
Jack McCouat is buried in the Liveramenthu CWGC Plot in Colombo Sri Lanka.
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