Branch of Service

Air Force

Conflict

World War II (1939-1945)

Date of Enlistment

18/11/1941

Place of Enlistment

Brisbane, Queensland

Gender

Male

Date of Birth

21/12/1921

Place of Birth

Darwin, Northern Territory

Occupation

Shipping clerk

Next of Kin

Only son of Albert Edward (died 17 January 1941) and Lillie Marie Cummings, of 12 Belmore Gardens, Barton, Canberra ACT.

Burial Place

Dundee (Balgay) Cemetery, Co. Angus, Scotland: section MM, grave 4E.

Service Number

414633

Final Rank

Flight Sergeant

Final Unit

RAAF (attached to RAF Station Tealing, Britain)

Died 19 November 1943 aged 21 years, accidentally, Scotland.

AWM Roll of Honour, Canberra ACT: Panel 121
Roll of Honour/Memorial Darwin NT
Inscription on father's memorial in Woden Cemetery, Canberra ACT: grave RSL section, lawn 94E.
Memorial windows in Wesley Uniting Church, Forrest, Canberra ACT.

Cummings worked for Burns & Philp prior to enlisting in the RAAF. He trained in Canada during 1942 and was based in Scotland when his Hurricane crashed on 19 November 1943. According to the investigation into the crash, Cummings was part of a training flight when the weather closed in. The flight leader tried to take the flight through the clouds but Cummings was one of two pilots who crashed into the Cleish Hills. He is buried in Dundee, Scotland. His parents had moved to Canberra from Darwin a few years before his death.

Australia. Department of Veterans' Affairs. World War 2 nominal roll. <http://www.ww2roll.gov.au/>
Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Debt of Honour Register. <http://www.cwgc.org/cwgcinternet/search/>
AWM Roll of Honour and Roll of Honour Circulars http://www.awm.gov.au/database/roh.asp
Don Mountain ed. Monumental inscriptions: Australian Capital Territory, including Jervis Bay. Canberra, Heraldry & Genealogy Society of Canberra, 2001 (p.89)
ACT Electoral roll - 1943, 1945, 1947
The Canberra Times - 24 November 1943, 19 November 1945