Name: Michael Joseph Scott Rank: Leading Airman Service Number: FX87016 Service: 826 Squadron, HMS Jackdaw, Fleet Air Arm, Royal Navy Date of Birth: August 24, 1924 Place of Birth: Stockton-On-Tees, County Durham, England Date of Death: March 24, 1944 Age: 19 Memorial: Lee-On-Solent Memorial, Hampshire, England Reference: Bay 5, Panel 3 Michael Joseph Scott was the only son of Thomas Scott (1897-1969) and Minnie (Christison) Scott (1898-1964), of Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England, and the brother of Maureen Scott (1920-2005). Michael Scott enlisted in the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm after his eighteenth birthday in 1942 and was allocated the service number FX 87016, a number assigned to aircrew trainees entering the Telegraphist Air Gunner branch during the latter part of that year. Following enlistment, he would have completed initial naval training in the United Kingdom before being selected for aircrew service. In early 1943, Scott was posted to HMS Daedalus at Lee-on-Solent for Telegraphist Air Gunner ground training. This phase included wireless telegraphy, Morse code, aircraft systems, and air gunnery instruction. He was then assigned to the Royal Navy’s overseas training program under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan and travelled to Canada in March 1943. Scott trained at RCAF Station Yarmouth (East Camp) in Nova Scotia as a member of Telegraphist Air Gunner Course 48A. Training at Yarmouth included airborne wireless operation, defensive gunnery, navigation assistance, and anti-submarine procedures. His course remained in Canada for approximately ten months. Michael Scott, like many of the Telegraphist Air Gunners, training at East Camp, became well know during their ten months in Yarmouth. He had a fine tenor voice and became known to quite a radio audience through Yarmouth’s radio station CJLS. His was said of him: “Anyone who ever heard him sing his favorite, the well known ‘I’ll Walk Beside You’, could not easily forget it. In addition to his voice, he has as fine a personality and was well loved by all who knew him.” After returning to the United Kingdom in December 1944, Scott was posted to 826 Naval Air Squadron, based at HMS Jackdaw (RNAS Crail) in Scotland. At this time, 826 Squadron operated the Fairey Barracuda II, a torpedo and dive bomber used for strike training and operational preparation. Scott served as the Telegraphist Air Gunner in a three man crew alongside Sub-Lieutenant (A) J. E. Brooks, RNVR, the pilot, and Sub Lieutenant (A) G. F. Orry, RNVR, the observer. On 24 March 1944, Scott served as the Telegraphist Air Gunner in a three man crew alongside Sub-Lieutenant J. E. Brooks, RNVR, the pilot, and Sub Lieutenant G. F. Orry, RNVR, the observer. The crew were flying in Fairey Barracuda II P9661 during a training flight from RNAS Crail. The aircraft crashed, resulting in the deaths of all three crew members. Michael Scott was nineteen years old at the time of his death. His name is inscribed on the Lee-On-Solent Memorial, Hampshire, England.