Flight Sergeant Robert Hugh Gillian (37399) served in the Royal Australian Air Force during World War Two. Born on 1st January 1918, he was the son of Alexander Joseph Gillian and Eleanor Grace Gillian of Bondi, New South Wales, Australia.
Robert attended Marist Brothers High School, Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia before enlisting in the Royal Australian Air Force on 17th June 1941. Prior to the war, he worked at a railway clerk.
Gillian died on 6th March 1945 aged 27 years old. He was the navigator on board Avro Anson LV153 when it crashed at Legnacoppage Glen in the Sperrin Mountains, Co. Tyrone. The plane took off from RAF Wigtown, Scotland at 2130hrs on a non-operational night navigation exercise on 5th March 1945. At around 0030hrs on 6th March 1945, the craft came down killing 4 of the 5 person crew. The crew was part of RAF No. 1 Advanced Flying Unit.
Robert Hugh Gillian’s grave is in Grave 7 of St. Mary’s Cemetery, Limavady, Co. Londonderry. His headstone bears the inscription:
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord.