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Spitfire Biography

FSGT Robert Alan Dutneall 418083

SUSSEX, ENGLAND. 1944-05-25. 418083 FLIGHT SERGEANT R. A. DUTNEALL, CAMBERWELL, VIC, AT SPITFIRE NO. 453 SQUADRON RAAF OF THE SECOND TACTICAL AIR FORCE
Squadron/s273 SQN RAF
453 SQN
Rank On Discharge/Death Flight Sergeant (FSGT)
Mustering / SpecialisationPilot
Date of Birth19 Feb 1921
Date of Death27 Jul 1944
Contributing Author/sCompiled by Vince Conant
May 2014
The Spitfire Association


Robert was born on the 19th of February 1921 in East Malvern, Victoria. Son of Alan Robert and Elizabeth Victoria Lilian Dutneall, of Sydney, New South Wales.

Killed on flying operations with 453 Squadron over France on the 27th of July 1944



STATION FORD. Informal outdoor portrait of pilots from No. 453 (Spitfire) Squadron RAAF using a spare belly tank as a resting place outside their tent at Beach-Head Airstrip, an advance landing ground, B.11, from where they operated over the Normandy battlefield. Identified from left to right: 425139 Flight Sergeant (Flt Sgt) Allan William Dowding from Goondiwindi, Queensland; 412513 Warrant Officer (WO) Allan Harold John Harris from Yenda, NSW (killed on flying operations over France on 27 July 1944); 418083 Flt Sgt Ralph Alan Dutneall from Hawthorn East, Victoria (killed on flying operations over France on 27 July 1944); and 409367 WO Hector Deeble Aldred from Bentleigh, Victoria (later Flying Officer).
Ford, England. 1944-06-06. A Spitfire of No. 453 Squadron RAAF on D-day being prepared for take-off for close-support operations with the assaulting ground forces. All allied aircraft at this time, with the exception of four-engine bombers, were painted with distinctive black and white stripes for easy identification.
In Memory of Flight Sergeant Ralph Alan Dutneall 418083, Royal Australian Air Force who died on the 27th of July 1944 Aged 21. Remembered with Honour Banneville-La- Campagne War Cemetery.

Learn more about the squadron/s in which Robert served.

453 SQN

No. 453 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force was formed at Bankstown in New South Wales on 23 May 1941. Formed under Article XV of the Empire Air Training Scheme, the squadron w...

(Read more about 453 SQN)
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