Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

449303 Flight Sergeant Harold Shadforth was born in Cobram on the 1 February 1926. When he enlisted in the RAAF on 10 March 1944, he had barely turned 18. He was the son of Walter Haddock Shadforth and Grace Shadforth, of Cobram. Harold had four much older brothers and sisters, and really was the baby of the family. He had done some work with his brother Walter as a hairdresser prior to enlisting in Hughesdale, Oakleigh, Victoria. Walter moved back to Cobram in 1947 and opened a hairdressing business.

Harold trained as an air-gunner at the Sale Air Force Base for much of 1944, before he was transferred to the Tocumwal Airfield in New South Wales where he spent some months training on the newly arrived American Liberator bombers. Tocumwal was the first Australian home for the Liberator bombers. Harold would have been very happy with the posting at the time, considering his home town Cobram was only a few miles away.

It is interesting to note that Harold’s pilot right through training at Sale and Tocumwal, and on the day they died, was Squadron Leader John Robert Walter Redman, better known as Jack Redman, one of the best lock-forwards in Sydney rugby league, playing for Balmain until his last season in 1940. Redman must have been very confident in Harold to keep him as his main air gunner all the way through to combat operations.

Harold was serving as a Flight Sergeant air gunner in 24 Squadron, flying Liberator bombers. The Liberators were heavy bombers, with a crew of 11 men. Harold’s aircraft, number A72-196 was flying in support of the invasion at Balikpapan in Borneo on 5 July 1945. Squadron Leader Redman was the captain and he had a crew of ten RAAF airmen and also carried Captain Westgarth, an army observation officer. At 10 o’clock in the morning, while flying at a height of 200 feet two miles north of Sepinggang airfield (Balikpapan), No. 3 engine was seen to catch fire after being hit by light enemy anti-aircraft fire, and the aircraft then exploded in mid-air. None of the crew was seen to escape by parachute and a second aircraft directed to the scene of the crash saw the wreckage burning furiously on the ground. An army patrol got to within 150 yards of the wreckage, but was unable to penetrate farther because of enemy resistance.

The crew were eventually all buried in a collective grave in Labuan War Cemetery, which indicates the aircraft crashed with no survivors. Twelve families from all parts of Australia lost a loved one in a split second, all bright and promising young men.

Harold Shadforth was only 19 years and 5 months of age when he died.

Atom bombs were dropped on Japan only a few weeks later, effectively forcing Japan to end WW2.

In his home town of Cobram, Harold’s memory is honoured with one of the Sports Houses at Cobram Secondary College being “Shadforth House”.