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Abbott , George Eric (G E)

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Photo of Abbott
Identity
Person No.
7
Old ROH no.
34991
Service No.
102758
Last Name
Abbott 7
First Name
George Eric
Initials
G E
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
1915 (±1 yr) 447
Age at Death
26
Death Record
Date of Death
23 September 1941 96
Cause code
AA 1,737
Aircraft accident
Cause of Death
Killed in aircraft accident 1,517
Killed in aircraft accident, at Derba Tabor, in Junkers #641
Military Service
Branch
Air Force
Rank
Lieutenant
Regiment
16 Squadron 40
Corps
South African Air Force 3,524
Unit
Unknown
Secondary Unit
35 Flt
Defence Force
UDF 24,808
Union Defence Force
Location
Country
Eritrea 40
Locality
Unknown
Cemetery
ASMARA WAR CEMETERY 28
Grave Reference
4. G. 10. 1
Coordinates
15.35031, 38.96757 OSM
Notes

Born Johannesburg, 1915. Son of Walter Ayling and Florence Ada Abbott, of Johannesburg, Transvaal, South Africa. Husband of Marjory Sutherland Abbott (née Leitch), architect, of Johannesburg. B.Arch. (University of the Witwatersrand, 1937). An architect; office of Cowin & Ellis; house for his father designed with Douglas Cowin c.1938. Lived latterly at Epping Lodge, Morningside, Johannesburg. Joined the South African Air Force in 1940 as a Lieutenant. Official commemoration: 16 Squadron SAAF; 85 Years of the SAAF lists 35 Flt (16 Squadron was reduced to 35 Flight on 22 August 1941). Killed in an aircraft accident, Junkers Ju-86 #641, at Derba Tabor (Debre Tabor, Abyssinia), 23 September 1941; five others on board survived.

Research notes

No London Gazette gallantry notice found. Age 26 and next of kin from SAWGP (verified 2023-07-23). Birth year 1915 from the Artefacts.co.za architect lexicon (Herbert, Martienssen & the international style, 1975; SAAR Oct 1941:363 obituary; SAAR Apr 1942:102; TAD MHG 4034/41). Crash: Ju-86 (Z or K1) serial 641 written off at Derba Tabor; Lt G.E. Abbott fatally injured, five crew survived (AvCom SAAF daily compilation). 16 Sqn reduced to 35 Flight on 22 August 1941 (saairforce.co.za Ju-86 history).
5 Sep 2026: Unit "16 Squadron" (a squadron, SAAF's regiment-equivalent) promoted to Regiment, per John's decision. Corps (South African Air Force) unchanged.

Citations
Unknown
External References
Stories 1
by ROH research on 18 August 2026 · via source
George Eric Abbott was born in Johannesburg in 1915, the son of Walter Ayling Abbott and Florence Ada Abbott. He studied architecture at the University of the Witwatersrand, graduating Bachelor of Architecture in 1937. His final-year thesis was a photographic study of contemporary domestic architecture in Johannesburg, noted for the quality of the photography. While still a student he was training as a pilot. After graduating he entered the Johannesburg office of Cowin & Ellis. About 1938 he designed a house for his father in association with Douglas Cowin; the work shows his sympathy with the modernist movement, and he and his wife later lived in that house. In 1940 he married the architect Marjory Sutherland Leitch, daughter of the architect Arthur Leitch. They lived latterly at Epping Lodge, Morningside, Johannesburg. A colleague, Angus Stewart, later described him as “brilliant and temperamental” in the South African Architectural Record of April 1942.

Abbott joined the South African Air Force in 1940 as a Lieutenant. Commonwealth and South African War Graves Project records commemorate him with 16 Squadron SAAF. That squadron had been re-formed at Addis Ababa on 1 May 1941 with the remaining Junkers Ju-86s taken over from 12 Squadron, and flew against remaining Italian positions in East Africa. On 22 August 1941, with the aircraft poorly serviceable, 16 Squadron ceased to operate as a squadron and was renumbered 35 Flight — the unit given for Abbott in 85 Years of the South African Air Force.

On 23 September 1941 Junkers Ju-86 serial 641 was written off in an accident at Derba Tabor (now Debre Tabor, Ethiopia), then in Italian East Africa. Lieutenant Abbott, aged 26, was killed; five others on board survived. He is buried in Asmara War Cemetery, Eritrea, grave 4. G. 10. No gallantry award or London Gazette citation has been found. An obituary appeared in the South African Architectural Record in October 1941. His Transvaal estate file is TAD MHG 4034/41.
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