BOWEN, Trevor Edward
| Service Number: | 439863 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 14 August 1943 |
| Last Rank: | Flight Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | No. 24 Squadron (RAAF) |
| Born: | Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia, 10 August 1925 |
| Home Town: | Wagga Wagga, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Christian Brothers High School, Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation: | Clerk |
| Died: | Flying Battle, Netherlands East Indies, 6 April 1945, aged 19 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Northern Territory Memorial - Panel 8, Northern Territory Memorial, Adelaide River, Northern Territory, Australia |
| Memorials: | Adelaide River Northern Territory Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Maryborough No. 3 Wireless Air Gunners' School Memorial Wall, Wagga Wagga Cenotaph |
World War 2 Service
| 14 Aug 1943: | Enlisted Woolloomooloo, New South Wales | |
|---|---|---|
| 14 Aug 1943: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Sergeant, 439863 | |
| 6 Apr 1945: | Involvement Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Sergeant, 439863, No. 24 Squadron (RAAF), Air War SE Asia 1941-45 |
Help us honour Trevor Edward Bowen's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by David Barlow
RAAF Liberator aircraft A72-81 of Number 24 Squadron was shot down near Sumba Island in the Soemba Strait, Netherlands East Indies with 11 crew on board while taking part in an attack on the Japanese cruiser Isuzu. A crewman survived bailing out - Warrant Officer Shilling 406816 (discharged February 1946)
He was picked up by Catalina flying boat A24-54 of 112 Air Sea Rescue Flight Darwin but that aircraft was subsequently destroyed by strafing from a Japanese fighter with the loss of crewman Sergeant Jones 34647. Another Catalina from 43SQN landed an hour later to pick up Shilling and the surviving crew from A24-54 plus Warrant Officer Vickers 401867 & Flight Sergeant Sayer 30337 from Liberator A72-77 which had been shot down on the same mission. After a running battle with Japanese fighters the second Catalina reached Darwin with no more fatalities.
All those killed in this action from Liberator A72-81 are commemorated on the Northern Territory Memorial to the Missing located at Adelaide River War Cemetery, NT -
Flight Sergeant Ronald Joseph Banks 436999 - Son of Joseph and Harriet Banks & Husband of Mabel Jean Banks of Homebush, NSW
Flight Sergeant Trevor Edward Bowen 439863 - Son of Gilbert Tyson Bowen and Mary Veronica Bowen of Wagga Wagga, NSW
Flying Officer Kelvin Arthur Roy Brown 426804 - Son of George Henry and Lilian Brown & Husband of Hazel May Brown of Morwell, Victoria
Flight Sergeant Allan Davis 431280 - Son of Alfred Alexander Davis and Annie Eleanor Davis of Traralgon, Victoria
Flight Lieutenant Sydney Leonard McDonald 411524 - Son of Ernest Reginald and Lilian McDonald of Leeton, NSW
Flying Officer Peter Albert Mouatt 405523 - Son of Robert William and Jessie May Mouatt & Husband of Doris Wilhelmina Mouatt of Pelican Island, NSW
Flight Sergeant John Stanley Thomson 438719 - Son of Herbert Edgar Thomson and Louisa Thomson of Dartmoor, Victoria
Flight Sergeant Leslie Kenneth Walmsley 435740 - Son of Leslie Albert and Mary Ellen Walmsley of Balmoral, Queensland
Sergeant Walter Joseph Wignall 17299 - Son of William Hayes Wignall and Mary Ellen Wignall of North Perth, Western Australia
Flying Officer Alexander George Worley 435236 - Son of Alexander and Lottie Jane Cooper Worley of Boonah, Queensland
Biography
FSGT BOWEN, TREVOR EDWARD Service No. 439863 Unit 24 Squadron, date of birth Monday, August 10, 1925 Place of Birth Wagga Wagga New South Wales, Australia, Date of Death Friday, April 6, 1945 ( aged 19 years) Aircraft Liberator A72-81 CWGC. Info Son of Gilbert Tyson Bowen and Mary Veronica Bowen, of Wagga Wagga, New South Wales. Memorial: Northern Territory Memorial, Panel 8,8
Click images to start slideshow.