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Australia

Allan was born on the 16th of July 1916 at Tumbarumba, NSW. He was the youngest of four children to Thomas Henderson and Florence Mary (née McMeekin) Paton. 

Alan enlisted on the 14th of September 1940 at Melbourne, Victoria. He was allocated the Service Number 400512. Alan’s service details have yet to be digitised so information regarding his progress in the RAAF is limited. It is known that he would have undertaken his initial training at No. 1 I.T.S. (InitialTraining School) at Somers, Victoria. Training would have included a variety of subjects including mathematics, navigation, first aid, physical training and signals. Recruits would also have undergone initial training in the Link Trainer (a flight simulator that the recruit sat in) to familiarise them with the basics of flying. At the completion of the course, recruits would have been classified into the path they were to take in the RAAF, for example pilot, navigator etc.

On the 14th of November 1940 he was posted to W.A.G.S (Wireless Air Gunners Course) Course 6 at Ballarat, Victoria. The purpose of the school was to train RAAF recruits in all aspects of wireless operating including sending and receiving messages by morse code, setting up wireless equipment and eventually operating these skills from an aircraft back to a ground base. Alan would have been expected to reach a level of proficiency of 18 words per minute. The course would have taken 24 weeks to complete with another 4 weeks at Air Gunners School in Sale, Victoria.

At some stage Alan was posted to No. 31 Squadron SAAF (South African Air Force). In January of 1944, this squadron was posted to the SAAF Base Depot at Almaza Air Force Base, north-east of Cairo. In April of that year it moved to a camp at Kilo 40, 40 kilometres north of Cairo. 

Alan’s operational sorties would have commenced in late May against the German-occupied island of Crete. The squadron was flying Consolidated B-24 Liberators, an American heavy bomber (see photograph below of EW105 of 31 Squadron). In June of 1944 the squadron moved to Foggia in southern Italy and began to take part in a large-scale air offensive against the petroleum industry in eastern European countries who were supporting Nazi Germany.

On the evening of the 28th of June 1944, Liberator EW104 took off from the Celone Landing Ground together with 10 other aircraft from the squadron, to bomb Giurgiu, Romania. One aircraft returned early due to the Navigator being ill. The remainder went on to the target which was poorly illuminated and badly marked by the Path Finder force. Very few of the aircraft were able to identify the target pinpoint and bombing appeared to be scattered.

Over the target heavy but inaccurate anti-aircraft fire was encountered, together with air-to-air rockets from unidentified aircraft. EW104 failed to return from the mission. Members of another aircraft were attacked by a night fighter and bailed out. They were captured but were eventually returned safely to their unit. Two of the crew stated that after their capture they were taken to the scene of a crash in the vicinity and identified the wing of EW104. They were told by the Bulgarians that all the crew of seven had been killed in the crash.

The crew members of EW104 were:

Warrant Officer II W S Barrett (206221V) (SAAF) (Wireless Operator)
Sergeant Bernard Oswald Brazier (1398925) (RAFVR) (Bomb Aimer)
Warrant Officer II D T Flynn (581315V) (SAAF) (Signaller / Air Gunner)
Lieutenant D J G Haggie (2071655V) (SAAF) (Pilot)
Lieutenant D Lindley (543056V) (SAAF) (Observer)
Flying Officer Alan Franklin Paton (400512) (Signaller / Air Gunner)
Second Lieutenant R G Southey (542595V) (SAAF) (Second Pilot)

Alan and his crew were buried in the Sofia War Cemetery, Sofia, Bulgaria. He is also remembered on the Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, and the Albury Grammar School Honour Roll. For his service, he was awarded the 1939-1945 Star, the Italy Star, the Defence Medal, the War Medal 1939-1945 and the Australian Service Medal 1939-1945.

Flying Officer Alan Franklin Paton 400512 was killed in the loss of Liberator EW104 of 31 Squadron SAAF over Bulgaria (target Girugiu, Romania)