GURNEY, Charles Raymond
| Service Number: | 160 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 14 December 1925 |
| Last Rank: | Squadron Leader |
| Last Unit: | Air Force Headquarters |
| Born: | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 22 May 1906 |
| Home Town: | Cremorne, North Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Clerk |
| Died: | Flying Battle, Kiriwina Island, New Guinea, 2 May 1942, aged 35 years |
| Cemetery: |
Port Moresby (Bomana) War Cemetery, Papua New Guinea A3 D 14 |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 2 Service
| 14 Dec 1925: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Pilot Officer, 160, RAAF Point Cook | |
|---|---|---|
| 14 Dec 1925: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Squadron Leader, 160, No. 33 Squadron (RAAF) | |
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Squadron Leader, 160 | |
| 2 May 1942: | Involvement Squadron Leader, 160, Air Force Headquarters, Air War SW Pacific 1941-45 |
Help us honour Charles Raymond Gurney's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Daryl Jones
Son of William B. Gurney and Ida Gurney; husband of Josephine Margaret Gurney, of Edgecliffe, New South Wales.
LOVED HUSBAND OF JOSEPHINE AND FATHER OF CHRISTINE
An aeroplane pilot well-known and highly-esteemed in New Guinea, Squadron-Leader Charles Raymond Gurney, was killed on active service on the Northern Australian front early in May. He was formerly chief pilot in New Guinea for Guinea Airways Ltd. Later, he joined Qantas; and, when the war came, he transferred to the RAAF.
Captain Lester Brain, operations manager for Qantas, who frequently flew with Squadron-Leader Gurney, described him as one of the best natural pilots fie had ever been in contact with, and a big loss to Australian aviation. Captain Brain added that Squadron-Leader Gurney, who had flown more than a million miles, originally trained with the RAAF at Point Cook, and after became chief pilot for Guinea Airways.
In 1936, he joined Qantas Airways, and a year later was sent to England for a special flying-boat course. He then had a regular command on the Sydney-Singapore run until the outbreak of war, when he transferred to the RAAF.
Squadron-Leader Gurney, who was 35, is survived by his wife and a daughter, aged 12 months.
Biography contributed by David Barlow
Squadron Leader Charles Raymond Gurney (# 160) AFC was killed when USAAF Marauder 40-1426 of the 22nd Bomb Group, 19th Bomber Squadron crashed on Kiriwina Island, New Guinea
Aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire over Simpson Harbor at Rabaul but the crew were able to get it back to the southern end of Kiriwina Island where it crashed during an attempted emergency landing
Milne Bay's Number 1 Airfield was re-named in Gurney's honour, which is still used today
(incident covered in book “Allied Air Transport Operations South West Pacific Area in WWII - Volume 1” by Robert H. Kelly)"
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