HAMILTON, Gordon Lewis
| Service Number: | 414022 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 20 July 1941 |
| Last Rank: | Flight Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | No. 100 Squadron (RAAF) |
| Born: | Brisbane, Queensland, 25 July 1917 |
| Home Town: | Cleveland, Redland, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Caboolture State School and Brisbane Boys Grammar School |
| Occupation: | Bakers Assistant and Transport Driver Assistant |
| Died: | Flying Battle, Gasmata Harbour, New Britain, Gasmata, New Britain, Pacific Islands, 5 September 1943, aged 26 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Rabaul Memorial, Rabaul, East New Britain, Papua New Guinea |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Rabaul Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Flight Sergeant, 414022 | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Jul 1941: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, 414022 | |
| 20 Jul 1941: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Sergeant, 414022, No. 100 Squadron (RAAF) | |
| 5 Sep 1943: | Involvement Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Sergeant, 414022, No. 100 Squadron (RAAF) |
Help us honour Gordon Lewis Hamilton's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Karen Standen
On the 12th April 1943, Gordon survived an aircraft accident receiving only minor injuries. He was one of the Wireless Operator Air Gunner's (WOAG) of Beaufort Bomber A9-266 at the RAAF Base Torpedo Unit (/explore/units/1478) (BTU), when during a low formation training exercise involving three aircraft, A9-266 "slipped in", crashing at Cabbage Tree Creek on the northeast side of Jervis Bay, NSW. Also surviving the accident were, Pilot Clement Batstone Wiggins and Navigator Russell Henry Grigg. Their crewmate, WOAG Cyril Wattie Jackson (/explore/people/633620) was the only fatality and was buried at the Nowra War Cemetery (/explore/cemeteries/3206).
Gordon and Wattie Jackson's RAAF service had mirrored each other's exactly, from enlisting on the same day in Brisbane until the day of the accident.
Five months later, Gordon was killed during a bombing raid on Gasmata. He was one of the WOAG's onboard Beaufort Bomber A9-186, based at No. 100 Squadron (/explore/units/823), Gurney, New Guinea. It was one of three aircraft lost in the ten aircraft operation on the 5th September 1943. All four crew members of A9-186 were killed, including Pilot Clement Batstone Wiggins (/explore/people/652256), Navigator Russell Henry Grigg (/explore/people/630401) and WOAG Albert Beckett (/explore/people/619517).