Name: Ernest Jack Desborough Service No: L/FX523614 Rank: Petty Officer Airman Unit: 721 Squadron, HMS Nabcatcher, Fleet Air Arm Royal Navy Date of Birth: March 26, 1925 Place of Birth: Chatteris, Cambridgeshire, England Date of Enlistment: August 1943 Age: 18 Date of Death: March 1, 1946 Age: 20 Memorial: Lee-On-Solent Memorial, England Reference: Bay 6, Panel 6 Ernest was the son of Mr. and Mrs. E Desborough of 9 Willey Terrace in Chatteris, Cambridgeshire, England. Ernest was a member of the Air Training Corps before joining the Royal Navy. He had attended school at the King Edward School in Chatteris and the March Grammar School, also in Cambridgeshire. Ernest was selected for overseas training at No 1 Naval Air Gunner School, part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, at RCAF Station Yarmouth (East Camp) in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. He completed nine months of TAG training in Yarmouth with Course 57A (December 1943). He was engaged to Ms. Tonks of Liverpool, Queens County, Nova Scotia. In March 1946, 721 Naval Air Squadron was stationed at HMS Nabcatcher, which was the Royal Navy’s designation for the western, naval-controlled side of Kai Tak Airfield in Hong Kong (operated by Mobile Naval Air Base No. VIII, or MONAB VIII). Instead of traditional combat or standard Fleet Requirements Unit (FRU) duties like target towing and radar calibration for ships, the squadron spent March 1946 engaged in an unusual, specialized operation, warring against mosquitoes to combat malaria in the liberated colony. Following the end of the Japanese occupation, Hong Kong was suffering from a public health crisis due to a severe mosquito infestation. 721 Squadron partnered with the RN Mobile Malaria Hygiene Unit No. 1. They utilized three specialized Vultee Vengeance TT IV target-tug aircraft that had been transferred from the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and modified to carry tanks of insecticide. The Vengeance aircraft were loaded with 320 gallons of a DDT oil solution per flight and flown low over the swamps, stagnant pools, and congested urban areas of Hong Kong to spray the colony and eradicate the mosquito breeding grounds. On March 1, 1946, a Vultee Vengeance (Serial No. HB363) went out of control while flying through heavy cloud cover. The aircraft crashed into Junk Bay (Tseung Kwan O), killing both crew members on board. Sub-Lieutenant A.M. Brodie, RNVR (Pilot) and Petty Officer Airman (TAG) E.J. Desborough (Telegraphist Air Gunner). With no known grave, Ernest is commemorated on the Lee-On-Solent Fleet Air Arm Memorial in Hampshire, England.