CALDER, Lewis Walter
| Service Numbers: | W23575, 427416 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 7 March 1941 |
| Last Rank: | Flight Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | No. 148 Squadron (RAF) |
| Born: | Victoria Park, Western Australia, 30 March 1921 |
| Home Town: | Victoria Park, Victoria Park, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Victoria Park State School- Wesley College Perth W. Australia |
| Occupation: | Bank Clerk |
| Died: | Ground Battle, Yugoslavia, 12 March 1945, aged 23 years |
| Cemetery: |
Belgrade War Cemetery, Serbia Special Memorial |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, South Perth Wesley College Lych Gate |
World War 2 Service
| 7 Mar 1941: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Sapper, W23575, Field Company Engineers | |
|---|---|---|
| 7 Mar 1941: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, W23575 | |
| 3 Oct 1941: | Involvement Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Sapper, W23575, Royal Australian Engineers, Homeland Defence - Militia and non deployed forces | |
| 5 Jul 1942: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Sapper, W23575, Royal Australian Engineers | |
| 8 Jul 1942: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Aircraftman 2 (WW2), 427416, No. 5 Initial Training School Pearce | |
| 8 Jul 1942: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Sergeant, 427416 | |
| 14 Oct 1944: | Involvement Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Sergeant, 427416, No. 148 Squadron (RAF), Air War NW Europe 1939-45 |
Help us honour Lewis Walter Calder's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Faithe Jones
Son of Walter and Jessie Emily Calder; husband of Edith Edna Calder, of Victoria Park, Western Australia. (Buried in Trbovlje Civil Cemetery, Slovenia).
GOODBYE FOR NOW MY DARLING
ATROCITY VICTIM. W.A. Airman in Balkans. Advice has been received by the Department of Air from the Balkan Air Force Headquarters that F/Sgt Lewis Walter Calder, of Perth, was killed when a partisan hospital was burnt by troops of an SS division. The message from RAAF Head quarters states that when the location of the hospital was betrayed to the Germans, SS troops set fire to the building, burning all the patients who were unable to move. P/Sgt Calder, who was a bank clerk, enlisted in Western Australia in July, 1942, trained as a wireless air gunner, and while operating over Yugoslavia was re ported missing on October 17, 1944. Shortly afterwards advice was re ceived that he had been picked up by Yugoslav partisans who were treating him in hospital for a broken ankle. The identity of the unit which fired the hospital is known.
Biography contributed by David Barlow
148SQN RAF Halifax JD319 was on a mission to drop ammunition supplies to Yugoslavia Partisans when it crashed into trees on a mountain near Solcava and four of the crew were killed (17/10/1944): Flight Sergeant Charles Gibson Steele 424114 RAAF / Flight Sergeant Edwards 1601873 RAF / Sergeant Daker 1581777 RAF / Sergeant Clarke 1824674 RAF
Flight Sergeant Lewis Walter Calder 427416 RAAF survived the crash along with Sergeant Parker 1899056 RAF and Sergeant Bromage 1880610 RAF (as this member was uninjured he was evacuated from the area and taken back to Allied lines in Italy)
Calder and Parker were injured and being cared for at a Partisan hospital facility in the vicinity of Ljubno, Yugoslavia which was attacked by German forces (12/03/1945) with FSGT Calder being killed (buried in Trbovlje Civil Cemetery, Slovenia) and SGT Parker taken POW (not on the CWGC - must have survived the war)
Click images to start slideshow.