SHARPE, Edith Tansley
| Service Number: | 94089 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 2 January 1942 |
| Last Rank: | Corporal |
| Last Unit: | Aircraft / Repair / Salvage Depots |
| Born: | Allora, Queensland, Australia, 19 June 1920 |
| Home Town: | Innisfail, Cassowary Coast, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Shop Assistant |
| Died: | Aircraft Accident, Amberley, Queensland, Australia, Amberley, Ipswich, Queensland, Australia, 16 August 1945, aged 25 years |
| Cemetery: |
Ipswich General Cemetery, Qld C of E Plot Section A Grave B293 |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Innisfail Cenotaph |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Corporal, 94089 | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Jan 1942: | Enlisted Corporal, 94089, Aircraft / Repair / Salvage Depots | |
| 2 Jan 1942: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Corporal, 94089 |
Help us honour Edith Tansley Sharpe's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by David Barlow
Daughter of Ralph Taysun Sharpe and Lucy Sharpe of Innisfail, Queensland
Liberator A72-306 of Number 99 Squadron crashed on take-off from Amberley Airfield with four personnel on board killed:
Corporal Jacqueline Ruth Row WAAAF 98112 of Number 3 Aircraft Depot
Corporal Edith Tansley Sharpe WAAAF 94089 of Number 3 Aircraft Depot
Flight Sergeant Arthur Kevin Clausen 439868 of Number 99 Squadron
Warrant Officer Eric Ferdinand Carlson 424965 of Number 99 Squadron died two days after the incident in Greenslopes hospital
Biography contributed by Keith McPhee
Edith Tansley Sharpe was born at Allora, Queensland, Australia, a daughter of Ralph Taysun and Lucy (nee Henry) Sharpe. By 1925 the family had moved to Innisfail, Queensland. After her formal schooling, Edith worked as a drapery shop assistant in Innisfail.
At Brisbane in 1942 Edith voluntarily enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force and, after training at Geelong, Victoria, was posted to Amberley near Ipswich, Queensland.
On the afternoon of the 16 August 1945 at RAAF Amberley, a Liberator A72-306 aircraft of RAAF Number 99 Squadron was one of nine B-24 Liberators scheduled to take part in a formation flight over Brisbane during the Victory Celebrations (after Japan had surrendered to the Allies). On board the aircraft were a crew of eight plus eleven passengers, one of the passengers being WAAAF Corporal Sharpe.
During take-off procedures the aircraft’s brakes were applied too soon and, as a result, the nose of the aircraft dipped into the runway causing the nose wheel assembly to collapse. The aircraft skidded off the runway into a deep gully and broke in half.
Three personnel died in the crash, one of whom was Corporal Edith Tansley Sharpe, aged 25 years.
https://www.ozatwar.com/ozcrashes/qld245.htm
Biography contributed by Faithe Jones
CORPORAL EDITH
SHARPE.
KILLED IN PLANE CRASH.
INNISFAIL, Aug. 17. Advice has been received of the death of Corporal Edith T. Sharpe, second eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. E. T. Sharpe, of Innisfail, who was killed in an aircraft accident.
The late Miss Sharpe, who was well known at Innisfail, was a member of the W.A.A.F. and the fatal accident occurred, at Amberley. The deepest sympathy bas been extended to the distressed relatives in their sad breavement Deceased formerly worked at Penneys, Innisfail. She was born on the Darling, Downs.
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