HOCKING, Alfred Roland
| Service Number: | 18005 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 16 July 1940, Mildura, Vic. |
| Last Rank: | Corporal |
| Last Unit: | Repair and Servicing Units |
| Born: | Eaglehawk, Victoria, Australia, 3 April 1911 |
| Home Town: | Irymple, Mildura Shire, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Mildura High School, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Motor Cycle Engineer |
| Died: | Prisoner of War , New Britain, Pacific Islands, 4 November 1942, aged 31 years |
| Cemetery: |
Rabaul (Bita Paka) War Cemetery, Papua New Guinea H C 14 |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Cardwell RAAF Wall, Mildura High School WW2 Honour Roll |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Corporal, 18005 | |
|---|---|---|
| 16 Jul 1940: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Corporal, 18005, Repair and Servicing Units, Mildura, Vic. |
Help us honour Alfred Roland Hocking'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 John William and Isabel Ada Hocking; husband of Jessie Adeline Hocking, of Prahran, Victoria
Alfred was a very skilled Motor Cycle Rider holding the Victorian Grass Track Championship.
SOME WERE BEHEADED
MURDERED R.A.A.F MEN FOUND
MELBOURNE, Friday.--The bodies of 30 Allied servicemen, including 15 members of tile R.A.A.F., who had been murdered at Rabaul by Japanese, have been recovered. Flight - Lieutenant Keith Rundle, Field Officer of the R.A.A.F. Missing Research Section, has found the bodies during the past four weeks. Some of the men had been beheaded.
The others had been shot.
Of the 13 Australians identified, nine were the crew of a Catalina flying boat shot down in May, 1942, in the Coral Sea battle. Three others were members of the crews of two Beaufort bombers, the other was a Kittyhawk pilot. Their fate had remained a mystery till the bodies were found. Announcing the discovery, Flight Lieutenant D. H. A. Kibble said the men had been murdered at a Japanese execution ground at Matupi, three miles from Rabaul.
Twelve were Americans. Dental charts were being checked to establish the identity of the other three.
Flight-Lieutenant Kibble said it was believed that about 100 had been murdered at Matupi by the Japanese.
40 Bodies Cremated
At first the Japanese made no at tempt to hide their crimes. Some bodies had had identity charts at lached. Towards the end of the war, the Japanese became fearful and took up and cremated about 40 bodies, but had not been able to find the others.
The R.A.A.F. bodies will be reinterred at Rabaul on Tuesday, with full military honours. The question of bringing to trial the Japanese responsible for the murders rested with the Government, said Flight-Lieutenant Kibble.
The 13 Australians identified were-
N.S.W.: Flying Officer Francis O'Connell Anderson, Corporal Alfred Henry Flanagan, L.A.C. William Murdoch Parker.
Victoria: Sergeant David Stewart Brown, Flight-Lieutenant Geoffrey Vincent, Flying Officer Ross Bryan C)'Loughlan, L.A.C. Ernest McDonald, L.A.C. John Joseph Burns, Corporal Alfred Roland Hocking, Flying Officer Aleck Leslie Norman, Warrant Officer John Pretty Bailey, L.A.C. Vernon Holloway Hardwick.
South Australla: Frederick Arthur Diercks.