KRAEHE, Ernest Hubert
| Service Number: | 27791 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 24 September 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | Not yet discovered |
| Born: | Cowell, South Australia, 4 April 1917 |
| Home Town: | Cleve, Cleve, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Died: | Prisoner of War, Rabaul, New Britain, New Britain, Pacific Islands, 5 March 1944, aged 26 years |
| Cemetery: |
Rabaul (Bita Paka) War Cemetery, Papua New Guinea Section E Row C Collective Grave 5 to 11 , Bita Paka War Cemetery, Bita Paka, Rabaul, East New Britain, Papua New Guinea |
| Memorials: | Adelaide WW2 Wall of Remembrance, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Cleve WW2 Roll of Honor |
World War 2 Service
| 24 Sep 1940: | Involvement Sergeant, 27791 | |
|---|---|---|
| 24 Sep 1940: | Enlisted Adelaide, SA | |
| 24 Sep 1940: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Sergeant, 27791 | |
| Date unknown: | Involvement |
Help us honour Ernest Hubert Kraehe's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by David Barlow
11SQN RAAF Catalina A24-34 crash-landed in Jacquinot Bay, New Britain and all crew survived the landing.
Four members evaded capture and returned to Australia: Flying officer Ian Douglas Vaughan Ralfe 405501 / Flying officer Allan Bernard Liedl 426624 / Sergeant Richard Murray Howard 47149 / Sergeant Harold Francis Jones 71534
Six crewmen were taken POW, but only Flight Lieutenant Brian Paul Stacy 406446 survived to be eventually repatriated
Squadron Leader John Evelyn Todd 271707 died in Rabaul of disease contracted as a POW - 22 July 1944
The other four were killed in an Allied bombing raid on Rabaul 5 March 1944: Sergeant Ernest Hubert Kraehe 27791 / Flight Sergeant Henry Laurence Murphy 412621 / Sergeant Fred Woolley 43098 / Flying Officer Frank Ronald Pocknee 401663