FORD, Mervyn John
| Service Number: | NX78164 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 12 December 1941, Paddington, New South Wales |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/31st Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia, 22 October 1920 |
| Home Town: | Parramatta, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Wool Blender |
| Died: | Aircraft Accident , Dutch New Guinea, Netherlands East Indies, 18 September 1945, aged 24 years |
| Cemetery: |
Port Moresby (Bomana) War Cemetery, Papua New Guinea Plot C8. Row B. Collective Grave 1-25. Remains interred 10 Aug 2005 after aircraft wreckage discovered 19 April, 1967. |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Dakota Transport A65-61, Kokoda Track Memorial Rose Garden |
World War 2 Service
| 12 Dec 1941: | Enlisted Private, NX78164, Paddington, New South Wales | |
|---|---|---|
| 12 Dec 1941: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, NX78164, 2nd/31st Infantry Battalion | |
| 18 Sep 1945: | Involvement Private, NX78164, 2nd/31st Infantry Battalion |
Help us honour Mervyn John Ford's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Raymond Smith
Paddy enlisted on 12 Dec 1941. He was promoted to Corporal and was engaged in training the new recruits. When the Japanese invaded New Guinea in mid 1942, his Battalion was sent to fight them, but Paddy was required to continue the training. Paddy didn’t want to leave his mates, so resigned as Corporal, and Private Ford set sail to fight in New Guinea. He fought in PNG, returning to Australia on leave on three occasions. In 1945, just six weeks before the war ended, he and his Battalion went ashore at Balikpapan Borneo - the last major action of WW2. During the fighting around Balikpapan the 2/31st Battalion suffered the highest number of casualties of any Allied unit deployed in the Borneo campaign, losing 44 men killed and 134 wounded.
Paddy was wounded in the leg in August 1945. There is a rumour that it was amputated.
On September 18, 1945 took off from Wama Airfield on Morotai piloted by W/O Arthur Hunteron at 6:45am on a flight path that included landing at Merauke Airfield and Bamaga Airfield (Higgins Field) then finally to Garbutt Field near Townsville. This flight was a medical evacuation with hospital patients including ten RAAF passengers and nineteen Australian Army personnel with a total of twenty-nine aboard. Lt. Jones boarded the plane as an unmanifested passenger. When this Dakota failed to arrive it was officially declared Missing In Action (MIA). Among the dead were TX16004 LT Oakley, NX92958 DW Smith, NX203688 ITL Ray, QX60848 AT Jorgenson, MERVIN JOHN FORD (PADDY) NX78164.
The plane was a C-47B-5-DK
Serial No. A65-61; call sign VH-CUT
The C-47 ran off course and crashed onto the Carstenz Ranges at an altitude of 14,200' in a ravine roughly 100' from the top of the mountain at roughly Lat 4° South, Long 137° 2' 30" East. The crash site is located near Wissel Lakes, northwest of the Grasberg mine operated by PT Freeport in present day Irian Jaya, the western half of New Guinea.
The wreckage was first seen on 19th April 1967.
During May 23 to June 6, 2005, a joint Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and Indonesian Air Force (TNI-AU) team were flown to the crash site aboard UH-1H A2-489 as part of "Exercise Dakota Recovery". The mission, conducted in extreme climatic conditions, recovered all the remains as well as some personal effects of the passengers and crew. A memorial plaque was left at the site.
After the recovery of remains, on August 10, 2005 the remains were permanently buried at Port Moresby Bomana War Cemetery
Click images to start slideshow.