Act/Sub Lieutenant Terence P O'Donovan RN – 103 Squadron / 800 Squadron – HMS Daedalus – WW2 – Pilot.
Killed in training accident – 11 June 1941 – Fairey Fulmar I - N1924.
Fairey Fulmer
Terence O'Donovan was temporarily posted from the Fleet Air Arm to 103 Squadron at RAF Newton on their return from France in 1940. Other FAA pilots posted to 103 at this time were Sub Lt ( A ) Robert A De Sandoval-Sievier RN, M/mn P Constable RN and M/mn D J McDonald RN
During his short period with 103 Squadron he flew the following operations :-
12-Sep-40 – Boulogne - Invasion barges – Battle – L5395 – M/mn O'Donovan RN
16-Sep-40 – Boulogne - Invasion barges – Battle – L5336 – M/mn O'Donovan RN
21-Sep-40 – Boulogne - Invasion barges – Battle – L5395 – M/mn O'Donovan RN
Sub Lt ( A ) Robert A De Sandoval-Sievier RN and his crew were lost on the 9 September 1940 in an operation to Calais
On the 12 January 1941 O'Donovan, Constable and McDonald were posted to No 3 S of G R Squires Gate, Blackpool
On the 11 June 1941 O'Donovan was killed when his Fairey Fulmar N1924 collided with a Grumman Martlet II N1924 flown by Lieutenant John A Rooper RN of 881 Sqn over Lee on Solent airfield. O'Donovan, his Observer Sub Lieutenant Henry Morris RN and Rooper were killed when both aircraft crashed into the sea. All 3 are commemorated on the Lee on Solent Memorial to the missing.
Act/Sub Lieutenant Terence P O'Donovan RN – Pilot – 20 – 800 Sqn - Son of Gerald Patrick and Mabel Driffield O'Donovan; husband of Florence Viva Valerie O'Donovan, of Hampton Court, Middlesex – Lee-on-Solent Memorial, Hampshire.
…......
It is a sad sobering thought that none of the 4 Royal Navy pilots temporarily attached to 103 Squadron in 1940 survived the war.
Compiled by David Fell with photo from my archive
….................
|
