RASMUSSEN, Ernest Reginald
| Service Number: | 412692 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 20 July 1941 |
| Last Rank: | Warrant Officer |
| Last Unit: | Royal Australian Air Force |
| Born: | Petersham, New South Wales, Australia, 11 January 1920 |
| Home Town: | Hillston, Carrathool, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Hay War Memorial High School |
| Occupation: | Bank Officer |
| Died: | Flying Battle, United Kingdom, 9 June 1944, aged 24 years |
| Cemetery: |
Brookwood Military Cemetery, Pirbright, Surrey, England, United Kingdom |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Hillston Memorial Park Gates, Sydney Fallen Staff of the Rural Commonwealth Bank WW2 |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Warrant Officer, 412692 | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Jul 1941: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Aircraftman, 412692, Royal Australian Air Force | |
| 20 Jul 1941: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Warrant Officer, 412692 | |
| 9 Jun 1944: | Involvement Royal Australian Air Force, Warrant Officer |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Susan Weisser
Born in Petersham in Sydney on 11 January 1920, Ernest Rasmussen was 21 years and 6 months old when he enlisted in the RAAF on 20 July 1941, Service Number 412692. He was schooled in Hay at the Hay War Memorial High School. When he enlisted, he was single and working as a Bank Officer with the Rural Bank of NSW at Hillston.
After training he was awarded his Flying Badge on 23 July 1942 and the same day was made Sergeant. He left Sydney a couple of months later on 24 August 1942 and disembarked in the UK on 18 November 1942. He underwent further training in UK at Esholt (Yorkshire) and then Grangemouth (Scotland) where he would have been trained in flying Spitfires as part of 57 Operational Training Unit and 2nd Tactical Exercise Unit. On 23 January 1943 he was made Flight Sergeant. On 23 January 1944 he was made Warrant Officer and on 16 March 1944 he was posted to No 66 Squadron. No 66 Squadron was a fighter squadron, escorting bombers over France. He was with 66 Squadron for a few months before being posted to No 84 Group Support Unit on 30 April 1944.
No 84 Group Support Unit was formed in early 1944 at Aston Down as a holding unit for aircraft and pilots for the operational squadrons of 2nd Tactical Air Force. The 2nd Tactical Air Force provided air support for the D Day landings on 6 June 1944 and the ensuing invasion of France. 84 GSU maintained a large number of aircraft of all types used by the squadrons in the TAF, with pilots and planes ready for issue to the squadrons to replace losses. The instructors were usually pilots 'resting' between operational tours.
Ernest Rasmussen was killed in an air operation on 9 June 1944, only 3 days after D Day. He was involved in an air battle and his plane crashed at Binsted in Sussex – ~ 5 ½ kilometres in from the coast of the English Channel.
He is buried in the Commonwealth War Graves’ Brookwood War Cemetery at Pirbright, Surrey, England.
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