VAGG, Mervyn Rex
| Service Number: | 430230 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 1 January 1943, Melbourne, Vic. |
| Last Rank: | Flight Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | No. 358 Squadron (RAF) |
| Born: | Williamstown, Victoria, Australia, 4 August 1924 |
| Home Town: | Elwood, Port Phillip, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Died: | Flying Battle, Indo China, 25 February 1945, aged 20 years |
| Cemetery: |
Sai Wan War Cemetery, Hong Kong VII. D. 9. |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Flight Sergeant, 430230 | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Jan 1943: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Sergeant, 430230, No. 358 Squadron (RAF), Melbourne, Vic. |
Help us honour Mervyn Rex Vagg's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Faithe Jones
Son of Cecil Mervyn and Mabel Blanche Vagg, Elwood, Victoria, Australia.
Wireless Air Gunner Mervyn Rex Vagg, 20, was a member of No. 358 Squadron, which carried out operations involving long distance flights from bases in India. In February 1945, the squadron had moved to Jessore, in order to drop leaflets and supplies to resistance fighters behind Japanese lines. The squadron was trained for special duty operations during moonlight and in January that year had dropped 32,000lbs (14,500 kg) of bombs in daylight sorties while based in Digri. It’s January efforts earned congratulations from AOC Strategic Air Force, for successfully completing long and difficult sorties “reflecting the greatest credit to all”. At 1700 hrs on 25 February Liberator VI ‘H’ EW 188 took off from Jessore with Flight Sergeant Vagg as one of its two wireless operators. Early next morning a weak signal from the plane was picked up but the aircraft failed to return and all eight crew on board the Liberator died in the crash. A US Searcher Detachment later located the wreckage at Phu Log, in French Indo-China. Three of the Liberator’s crew are buried at Sai Wan War Cemetery. After the war ended, the squadron ferried supplies into POW camps in Malaya, Sumatra and Java.