SEVEN CASUALTIES

Camp News (Northern Command), Volume 1, Issue 15, 9 August 1940, Page 8

SEVEN CASUALTIES

New Zealanders Missing MEN IN ROYAL FORCE — / The following casualty list involving seven New Zealanders serving in the Royal Air Force was issued recently. ' ’ > . Wing Commander Leslie Clive Bennett, missing in air operations. Wife: Mrs. J. Bennett, of the Limes, Wyke Road, Chichester, England; father : Mr. F. H. Bennett, 12 Kenton Avenue, Harrow, England. Wing Commander Bennett was born in Ngaroto, New Zealand. ' • ’ Flying Officer William Harcourt Coleman, R.N.Z.A.F., missing, believed killed in operations. Mother: Mrs. A. Walton, 12 Derby Street, Devonport, Auckland. Pilot Officer David Baynton Starky, missing as a result of aircraft accident. Father: Mr. F. B. Starky, Bay of RJenty, Toa Toa, New Zealand. Sergeant W. D. F. Annan, reported missing, believed killed. Father: Mr. F. J. A. Annan, 58 Dickens Street, Napier. Pilot Officer Frank Twain Poole, missing, believed killed. Father: Mr. C. H. Poole, 373 Herbert Street, Invercargill. . Pilot Officer Rupert Edward Short, missing in air operations. Father: Mr. T. E. Short, 142 Campbell Road, Green Lane, Auckland. Sergeant Harry Chapman Downs, R.N.Z.A.F., seriously injured in flying accident. Mother: Mrs. A. E. Downs, 14 Calcutta Street, Khandallah, Wellington.

One of the first airmen to leave New Zealand after the declaration of war, Sergeant William Donald Francis Annan, aged 21, eldest, son of Mr. and Mrs. F. J. Annan, Napier, is reported missing, believed killed in action over Germany, states a Press Association message. He was educated at the Hastings Street School, Napier, and the Napier Boys’ High School. He studied at Victoria University College, Wellington, and joined the staff of the Commissioner of Taxes. He was trained at; Levin and Ohakea air stations.