Robert Edward HITCHCOCK

Robert Edward HITCHCOCK Update Details

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HITCHCOCK, Robert Edward

Service Number:	115
Enlisted:	19 June 1930
Last Rank:	Flight Lieutenant
Last Unit:	No. 2 Squadron (RAAF)
Born:	Fremantle, Western Australia, 19 June 1912
Home Town:	Perth, Western Australia
Schooling:	Not yet discovered
Occupation:	Not yet discovered
Died:	Aircraft accident, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia , 13 August 1940, aged 28 years
Cemetery:	Springvale Botanical Cemetery, Melbourne C. of E. Portion. Compt. J. Sec. 8. Grave 4, Springvale Botanical Cemetery, Springvale, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Memorials:	Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, No 2 Squadron RAAF Roll of Honour

World War 2 Service

19 Jun 1930:	Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force
19 Jun 1930:	Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Lieutenant, 115
3 Sep 1939:	Involvement Flight Lieutenant, 115, No. 2 Squadron (RAAF)

Help us honour Robert Edward Hitchcock's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.

Biography contributed by David Barlow

Son of Henry Wyman Smith Hitchcock and Violet Elizabeth Hitchcock

Husband of Olive Blanche Hitchcock of East St. Kilda, Victoria

RAAF Lockheed Hudson aircraft A16-97 of Number 2 Squadron was on a VIP Flight when it crashed 2 miles east of Canberra Aerodrome, ACT

Passengers killed:

Brigadier G.A. Street (Minister for the Army)

General Sir Brudenell White (Chief of the General Staff)

Lieutenant Colonel F. Thornthwaite (Army Liaison Officer)

Mr J.V. Fairbairn (Minister for Air)

Sir Henry Gullett (Vice President Executive Council)

Mr R.E. Elford (Secretary to Air Minister)

Four RAAF crew members were killed in the crash:

Flight Lieutenant Robert Edward Hitchcock 115 (Aircraft Captain)

Pilot Officer Richard Frederick Wiesener 607 (Second Pilot)

Corporal John Frederick Palmer 2130

Aircraftman Charles Joseph Crosdale 6673

Pilot Officer Wiesener was cremated at Rookwood Crematorium and Aircraftsman Crosdale was buried in a private service at Cessnock. The other 8 fatalities were accorded a State Funeral in Melbourne.

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