In Memory Of

HASTINGS, JAMES RUSSELL

Service Details
Age:
 35
Date of Birth:
 -0001-11-30
Service No:
 102438
Rank:
 Captain
Unit:
 47 (R.A.F.) Sqdn.
Regiment:
 South African Air Force
Date of Death:
 1943-09-02
Cause of Death:
 Killed in action, Beaufighter TF.X LX802, crashed attacking enemy sea borne vessels. Was seen to successfully parachute into sea, but when vessels nearby came to rescue him, he was nowhere to be found
Commemoration
Grave Reference:
 Panel 12, Column 1.
Cemetery:
 MALTA MEMORIAL
Country:
 Malta
Additional Information
Son of Hugh A. and Eleanora Hastings, of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Educated at Albert Public School, Regina, Saskatchewan and Rouleau High School. He was one of the first students of R.J. Groome in attaining a private flying license at Regina. He homesteaded in the Meadow Lake District with his father until 1933 when he moved to Edmonton, Alberta. In 1936 he went to South Africa where he worked until enlisting in the Royal South African Air Force at Johannesburg on July 22, 1940. He was promoted to temporary Air Sergeant December 7, 1940 and qualified for his wings on 28 Jul 1941. He was commissioned as Pilot Officer in September 1941 and transferred to the Royal Air Force being sent to England where he was on Channel Patrol Duty over the North Sea until September 1942 when he was sent to Malta.