Aircraftman 2nd Class P V Mathai

Aircraftman 2nd Class P V Mathai (IND/27616) belonged to the Air Fighting Training Unit based at Amarda Road, Orrisa. He was killed while flying as a passenger in a B-24 Liberator (EW257) that collided with another B-24 north east of Amarda Road. Fourteen airmen died in the unfortunate crash and were buried in a common grave at the crash site.  Sometime in 1953, a British team transferred the remains from the old grave hundreds of miles south to the Madras War Cemetery, where they were re-interred in a collective grave.  Mathai's Grave marker, seen here is one of the fourteen markers that line this collective grave of fourteen airmen who perished that day.

Mathai's Grave marker does not carry any family-chosen inscription - It can be assumed that his next of kin were probably not aware of thier options. By 1953, they may have moved on with their lives.

Researcher Matt Poole had put together an extensively detailed document on the incident - which can be found at this link.