Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

A Short Sunderland Mk.III (EK573/P) of No. 10 Squadron RAAF on the water after alighting to rescue 3 survivors from a Vickers Wellington of No. 172 Squadron RAF, clinging to a one-man dinghy (seen at right) after being shot down in the Bay of Biscay while attacking a German submarine on 26 August 1944. Although it was forbidden for flying boats to alight on the open sea in rescue attempts, the pilot of the Sunderland, Flight Lieutenant W.B. Tilley, decided the survivors could wait no longer for surface craft to arrive, and touched down to pick them up for a safe return to Mount Batten, Devon (UK). A fourth member of the Wellington crew, Flying Officer R.B. Gray RCAF, refused to risk the lives of the other survivors by overloading the dinghy, although he was seriously injured. He succumbed during their fifteen-hour ordeal at sea and was awarded a posthumous George Cross. The pilot of the Sunderland of No. 10 Squadron RAAF who made the hazardous sea landing and take-off was Flight Lieutenant William Boris Tilley DFC of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia).

We are so Proud of Clive R.I.P.a light horseman who died in the trenches with a sniper bullet to the heart, trying to save one of his platoon mates....never to return home to his Family. Died for Freedom and Honour.

920 Francis Michael LOCK AFC RH#23

CALLANDER Arthur Stanley 3047 Pte 27th Bn

A flight of three Lockheed Hudson aircraft from No. 23 Squadron RAAF based at Amberley in 1941. Nearest camera is A16-3 flown by 22 Flight Lieutenant (Flt Lt) Phillip Walter Howson, OBE. In the centre is A16-38, flown by 251607 Flying Officer (FO) Edward Andrew Dorward, and at rear, A16-47, flown by 260518 FO Oscar George Diethelm. A16-38, was later issued to No. 32 Squadron. Flown by Wing Commander Deryck Kingwell, it was badly shot up in New Guinea on 31 March 1942. After repair it was issued to No. 1 Operational Training Unit (1 OTU), Bairnsdale, Vic, when it was flown during a press demonstration at Bairnsdale, on 27 October 1942 by Flt Lt Frank Tampion, lost its starboard mainplane and crashed and burned 'in shot' of Fox Movietone and Cinesound Newsreel cameraman Geoff Thompson. The film was impounded and used in the subsequent enquiry, which eliminated the rumour that undetected corrosion caused by an undetected Japanese bullet hole was responsible; the cause was determined to be a poorly repaired mainplane. In the interim, however, eighteen 1 OTU Hudsons were withdrawn during November 1942 for mainplane replacement. All four Lockheed Hudson photographs (AC0058, AC0066 AC0067 and AC0068) were taken by Flt Lt John Harrison from Wirraway A20-115, flown by Commanding Officer of 23 Squadron, regular officer 80 Squadron RAAF Leader Dixie Robison Chapman. Of note is the unusual, small RAAF serial applied to the tailplanes of A16-3. A16-3 was on strength with 1 OTU when the unit was called on at short notice to provide aircraft for the air supplying of allied troops at Buna. A group of twelve Hudsons was formed, known as 1 OTU Detached Flight, including A16-3, flown from Bairnsdale to Ward's Drome at Port Moresby, and began operations on 14 December 1942, flying over the Owen Stanley Mountain Range to drop supplies at Soputa and, later, landing at Dobodura. Flown by Flt Lt Neville Hemsworth, with Sergeant Bert Rodd and Flight Sergeants Robert Bamber and Henry Stephens as crew, A16-3, taking off from Dobodura with four wounded infantry aboard at 11.00 am on 26 December, was attacked by several Ki-43 Oscars from the 11th Sentai and chased south to Hariko. An incendiary bullet started a fire and Hemsworth ditched the Hudson into Oro Bay near Hariko, resulting in the drowning of the two stretcher bound wounded. A US Navy PT Boat picked up the survivors, but Stephens died of burns the next day, while Hemsworth was badly burned about the face and arms and Bamber wounded by gunfire. The ditching was witnessed and sketched by Official War Artist Roy Hodgkinson (who comments that the Hudson made 'a perfect belly landing on the sea') and appears in the Memorial's collection as ART21695. A16-47 was attached to the RAAF's Survey Flight in early 1944, then based at Lowood, Queensland. On 23 July 1945, A16-47, crewed by Flt Lt Lance Clarke, FO Thomas Steel and Leading Aircraftman (LAC) Frank Chiverton, and carrying as passengers the Flight's new Commander, Squadron Leader Nigel Pilcher plus unit members Corporal Bill Gaze and LAC Walter Nielson and Squadron Leader Cuthbert Griffin, departed for Bowen to visit the Flight's Anson detachment. They never arrived and despite a week long search, were never located.

Pilot Officer Clarence Charles Bennett

3495A Gunner (Gnr) Harold Constantine 5th DAC

Photographed during WW2 service

"Sonny" Wright, Frank's childhood mate enlisted as under age and served through WW2 in all theatres and then deployed to Japan as part of the BCOF, where he was accidentally killed in a motor vehicle accident in 1946. He was initially interred under the name C.R. O'Neil - the name of Frank's uncle whose driver's licence SOnny used as ID to enlist. His headstone has since been corrected. He is buried in Yokohama Military Cemetery.

Reginald Francis GRIMLEY

A map depicting the disposition of forces at 4 Oct 1917, immediately prior to the commencement of the Battle of Broodseinde Ridge

William Wilson Smith

Group portrait of five Australian Soldiers from the 5th Divisional Ammunition Column. Left to right, back row: 3495A Gunner (Gnr) Harold Constantine; 1513 Gnr Allen Wylie Scott; Probably 2222 Driver James Thomas Sheehan. Front row: Gnr H Williams; 2603 Gnr Arthur Rayworth Davison, later killed on 20 August 1917.

William Gough's medal set: L-R Distinguished Conduct Medal, 1914/15 Star, British War medal , Victory Medal

An Australian patrol in part of the anti-tank ditch. Compared to another photo purporting to be in an anti tank ditch, which is not much more than a shallow depression, this image gives avery graphic impression of the nature of the obstacle. The aim is to ground a tank in the bottom of the ditch at an angle that prevents self-recovery.

A diagram of the Barrage Plan for the Australian Corps advance. The barrage was fired on preset timings without the benefit of radio communications so advancing troops had to be careful not to get too close to, or be left behind by the line of the creeping barrage. The level of complexity of such a plan epitomises the sophistication of Artillery by this stage of the war. Each battery of guns would be using different firing data on a relentless schedule from their many and varied locations in order to achieve this effect on the ground.

Positions of forces at dusk on October 31, 1917, during the Battle of Beersheba at the time of the charge of the 4th Light Horse Brigade. British forces are shown in red, Turkish forces are shown in blue. The position reached by the regiments of the 4th Light Horse Brigade after the attack is shown in pale red. Note: there is no evidence that the 4th Light Horse Regiment crossed the Wadi Saba during their attack, nor that the 60th Division attacked south of the Wadi Saba. The Australian Mounted Division headquarters is shown where the Anzac Mounted Division headquarters moved to, after the capture of Tel el Saba. Neither the Gullett map nor Bou's map locates the headquarters of Anzac Mounted Division, Australian Mounted Division and Desert Mounted Corps at Kashim Zanna despite numemrous sources placing them there. [Preston 1921 pp. 25–6, Powles 1922 pp. 136–7, Hill 1978 p. 126]

No 156 Squadron May 1943 at RAF Warboys, CO WCDR Rivett-Carnac

No. 77 Driver Sidney John PENHALIGON -from the Queenslander 31 Oct 1914

Mk21 Beaufighters just after delivery to No. 93 Squadron after its formation in early 1945, at Kingaroy Queensland.

433549 FSGT Len Henderson 463 SQN

A.D. Whitehead shortly after enlistment

PRIVATE: Albert Ernest WORRALL; 1906-42, at Age: 36yrs. Military: 2nd Australian Imperial Force - Australian Army - WWII - 2nd/29th Australian Infantry Battalion. Origin of Portrait: (AWM) Australian War Memorial; Accession No: P02784.025.

Harold Bourke's grave at Pheasant Wood

Burnside Memorial to the Fallen at Rose Park SA

A posed photograph of de Havilland DH 5 Scout plane (Serial A 9242) of 68 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps (renumbered as No 2 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps from 19 January 1918) at an aerodrome in Lincolnshire, England, with 24 year old Cootamundra born Lieutenant Sydney Winton Ayers in the cockpit. Ayers was later shot down on 22 November 1917 over Bourlou Wood while ground strafing German troops and positions in support of the tank-assisted Cambrai attack - he died of his wounds two days later. The same month this image was taken, Ayers' brother, Private Charles Thomas Ayers of 58 Battalion, was killed at Polygon Wood. The legend painted down the right side of the DH5 scout indicates it was a presentation aircraft, paid for by subscriptions and fund-raising in Australia. This particular aircraft, 'New South Wales no 14' (also known as The Women's Battleplane) was presented on 12 April 1917 to 68 Squadron by 'the women of New South Wales and others', who raised 2,700 pounds. Notable amongst the subscribers were the Tweed and Armidale Battleplane Funds. Generally disliked by pilots for its lack of performance, vibration, and tendency to shed valves, the DH5 was being replaced by the SE5a by the end of 1917. See also A02177.

A Bristol Beaufort a light bomber in which Jack Reed flew

17184 PTE Percy Flanigan

Kenneth Roy "Curly" McPherson, 13th Field Ambulance

This aircraft, restored to non-flying status and formerly located at the Parafield Fighting Jets Museum in South Australia is a Bell P39 Airacobra of 82 Squadron (although it is wearing 24 Squadron codes - part of a flight detached to 82 Squadron) as it was when it was written off in a forced landing near Bulli in NSW in June 1943. The aircraft has sine been sold to aviation interests in Russia, where Airacobras served with great distinction in WW2. Airacobras were operated in limited numbers (22 in all) by the RAAF as a stop-gap in defence of cities on the eastern seaboard. Some are believed to have been used as training aircraft at Mount Gambier in SA. The Airacobra had some unique features which are shown in this image via open hatches. Most notable at first glance, it had a tricycle undercarriage, the engine was centre mounted, behind the pilot, driving a transmission shaft between the pilots feet to the propellor. This gave a lot of room up front for a very heavy nose armament comprising 1 x 20mm cannon (a 37mm cannon in some variants) firing through the propeller hub and two .50 calibre guns in the nose and one in each wing. While not highly regarded in the Pacific theatre, the most prolific user was the Soviet airforce who were provided large numbers under the Lend Lease Agreements. The Russians loved them, particularly as tank attack aircraft. They were replaced in Australian service by the ubiquitous Curtiss P40 Kittyhawk.

Driver James Benjamin Attrill

Cecil Ronald "Ron" Weinert, Korea

The eight Handcocks

RH Panel Image #3 - Private Robert John Penny

AWM caption : Fenton, NT. 1945-03. An informal group portrait of a crew of a Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber aircraft of No. 21 Squadron RAAF, standing beside their aircraft. Left to right: Flight Sergeant (Flt Sgt) P. Rousseau of Darling Point, NSW Flt Sgt D. W. Johnston of Kogarah, NSW Flying Officer (FO) H. A. Seymour of Coogee, NSW Sergeant (Sgt) F. A. Dean of Brighton, Vic Flt Sgt W. C. Randall of North Sydney FO C. L. Henry of Ivanhoe, Vic Pilot Officer R. W. Brooks of Coogee, NSW Flt Sgt R. W. McLeod of Northcote, Vic Flt Sgt W. H. Storey of Bexley, NSW Sgt R. H. Brown of Allora, Qld Flight Lieutenant R. W. Court of Collaroy, NSW

Informal group portrait of RAF ground staff with RAAF and Royal New Zealand Air Force air crew of a Mitchell bomber squadron, 180 Squadron RAF with the Second Tactical Air Force. Left to right: two RAF ground crew, Jock (Fitter) and Alf (Rigger); 422248 Flying Officer (FO) Jack B O'Halloran, pilot of Sydney, NSW, (later Flight Lieutenant and DFC); 417379 Pilot Officer James Crosby (Jim) Jennison (later Flying Officer and DFC) of Adelaide, SA; 422175 FO Reg J Hansen of Sydney, NSW; FO Harry M Hawthorn, RNZAF of Hastings, NZ. The aircraft was lettered D and the pilot named it 'Daily Delivery' and the nose art illustration portrays a stork carrying a large bomb. RAF Dunsfold Surrey UK C263114

A Sunderland aircraft of No. 10 Squadron RAAF P Peter takes off after effecting a successful rescue of the three survivors of the crew of a crippled Wellington aircraft B of No 172 Squadron RAF which shot down by a German submarine the previous night. The rescuing aircraft was piloted by Flight Lieutenant W. B. Tilley DFC of Melbourne, Vic.

Group portrait of twelve NCO‘s of the Australian Army Medical Women’s Service relaxing at the 2/7th General Hospital, Australian Army Medical Corps, after the march past ceremony and prior to taking up postings to the 2/7 or the 2/8 Australian General Hospitals. 1. NFX201487 (NX201487) Corporal (Cpl) Jean Pynor; 2. NFX202015 (NX202015) Cpl Eileen Everett Lloyd; 3. NFX174883 (NX174883) Cpl Thelma Maxwell Lawless; 4. NX130961 (N409388) Sergeant (Sgt) Marie Therese Bouffler; 5. VX112622 Sgt Jean Hamilton Baird; 6. VX121486 (V501002) Cpl Eleanor Mary Birchall; 7. VX112994 Sgt Sheila Florence Mathers; 8. VFX126851 Cpl Laura Alma Lawson; 9. NF451738 Cpl Nancye Joan Brierley; 10. VX91145 Cpl Patricia Lock; 11. NX148139 (N410205) Sgt Alice Mary Murray; 12. NX169975 Cpl Elsie Seccombe.

Harry Crockers grave at Pheasant Wood

L-R Military Cross, 1914-15 Star, British War Medal Victory Medal with MiD clasp

87 Squadron Photo Reconnaissance DH 98 Mosquitos

MID Medal Set: British War Medal, Victory Medal (with oak leaf symbolising Mentioned In Dispatches)

Bellicourt Cemetery

Men of an Anti Tank Company at Tobruk; The 2nd/3rd Anti Tank Regiment and the 24th and 26th Anti Tanl Companis served at Tobruk.

AWM caption : FOULSHAM, ENGLAND. 1945. 'JANE' (NO. MZ913), A HANDLEY PAGE HALIFAX B MARK III AIRCRAFT 'N' OF NO. 462 SQUADRON RAAF. THE BOMBER FLEW OVER 100 TRIPS AND WAS USED IN THE FIRST OPERATIONS OF THE SQUADRON. IT WAS FINALLY CONSIGNED TO THE WRECKERS IN CARDIFF, WALES ON 1945-05-04. NO 462 SQUADRON HALIFAX AIRCRAFT HAD VERTICAL YELLOW STRIPES ON THEIR TAIL FINS FOR IN FLIGHT IDENTIFICATION.