Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

PORTRAIT OF 405054 FLYING OFFICER B. W. KLEMM, BRISBANE, QLD, AN RAAF AIR GUNNER IN A MITCHELL MEDIUM BOMBER OF NO. 180 SQUADRON RAF WITH THE SECOND TACTICAL AIR FORCE.

A Consolidated Catalina aircraft (right), with the serial number A24-100 and code number RK-L of 42 Squadron, RAAF, piloted by 401846 Pilot Officer (PO) (later Flying Officer (FO)) Clifford Dent Hull of Hawthorn, Vic. After completing a successful mine laying operation off Macassar (Celebes) Harbour on the night of 23 & 24 October 1944, the starboard engine of this aircraft was damaged by Japanese anti aircraft (AA) fire. Unable to maintain height on his return and with the second engine failing, PO Hull made a forced landing in the open sea south of the South Western Celebes Peninsula. He and his crew spent the next twelve hours on the water uncomfortably close to four Japanese airfields based in Southern Celebes, before a second Catalina (left), OX-U of 43 Squadron, RAAF, arrived to rescue PO Hull and his crew. A rubber dingy is visible transferring the downed crew to the rescue aircraft. A United States B24 Liberator bomber located the downed Catalina and guided the rescue Catalina in. The B24 continued to circle overhead providing protection. After the disabled Catalina had been sunk by machine gun fire, the rescue Catalina took off and returned safely to Darwin. This operation was one of the epic sea rescues of the Second World War, entailing a round trip of 1800 miles mainly through Japanese held territory. The rescue crew were: 415632 FO (later Flight Lieutenant (Flt Lt, DFC)), Armand Andre Etienne (Captain), of West Perth, WA; 408409 FO (later Flt Lt), Ian McCallister Robson of Sandy Bay, Tas; 428809 Flight Sergeant (Flt Sgt) (later Warrant Officer (WO)), John Joseph Sweeney (Navigator), of Newcastle, NSW, (visible standing on the wing of the rescue aircraft); 428832 Flt Sgt (later WO), Raymond Victor Tumeth of Haberfield, NSW; 428360 Flt Sgt (later WO), Derek Fanshawe Robertson of Camberwell, Vic; 12912 Sergeant (Sgt) (later PO), Robert Richard Tingman of Brighton, Vic; 12223 Sgt (later Flt Sgt), Albert Leslie Warton of Sydney, NSW; A2398 Sgt, Thomas Roy Elphick of Bondi, NSW; 33642 Corporal, James Francis Burgess Oliver of Glen Innes of NSW.

The entrance to Becourt Military cemetery

Contalmaison Chateau Cemetery

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.

Flying from Mareeba Qld 18 March 1944 CAC Boomerang of No. 5 Squadron RAAF in "Finger Four" formation

Grave marker of eleven members of the 21st Battalion who were all killed in action at Mont St Quentin, France on 1 September 1918 and buried in a mass grave. Listed on the plaque are: 6817 Sergeant Colin Edward Hunt from Surrey Hills, Victoria; 2116 Lance Corporal (L Cpl) Albert Henry Blackmore, MM from North Maldon, Victoria; 5413 L Cpl Gustaf William Oscar Staaf from Echuca, Victoria; 6833 Private (Pte) Albert Edwin Kelly from Ballarat, Victoria; 6874 Pte Francis William Roberts from Upper Hawthorn, Victoria; 6380 Pte Alfred Roy Smerdon, from Murrayville, Victoria; 6178 Pte William Hugh Thorburn from Newtown, NSW; 664A Pte Edwin Werrett Thompson from Colac, Victoria; 6747 Pte William Francis Dowell from Thornbury, Victoria; 6781 Pte David George Gregory Chandler from North Williamstown, Victoria; and 6398 Pte Alexander Walker from Rochester, Victoria. The above listed were all later moved to individual graves in the Peronne Communal Cemetery Extension, France.

AWM Collection The Banner borne by men of the 5th Machine Gun Battalion in Sydney until 1973 when the banner was retired and donated to the AWM

DCM, MM, 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal

Rupert Ellsmore MC. Military Cross award.

ELLSMORE, Rupert (MC, MiD), Service No: 3587, Unit: 55th Infantry Battalion

Flight Sergeant Roy Wamsleys grave, Blacon Cemetery, Chester, United Kingdom

A 77 Squadron Halifax B Mk III

An Armstrong WHitworth Whitley of No 77 Squadron at RAF Driffield

Military Medal Citation

No. 7 Service Flying Training School, Deniliquin in NSW during WW2. Deniliquin was one of many training bases established in inland Australia under the EATS with relatively flat terrain and benign weather making it suitable for early stage flying training.

Harry Crockers grave at Pheasant Wood

Mareeba, Qld. 1944-03-15. An Australian-built CAC Boomerang fighter aircraft coded BF-S (serial no. A46-126) nicknamed "Sinbad II" of No. 5 (Tactical Reconnaissance) Squadron RAAF, piloted by 402769 Flight Lieutenant A. W. B. Clare of Newcastle, NSW.

Personnel from HMAS Sydney, Tobruk and Murchison marching along George St, Sydney on 6 March 1953. [AWM 304621] ...

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).

Prowse Point Cemetery taken from its neighbour Mud Corner

John Alfred Cocks - son of Richard Alfred Cocks

Clarence Lamshed's medal set - British War Medal and Victory Medal

'He fell. The rest marched on to Victory. Ah my poor little son.' inscription on headstone gives an insight into the grief felt so far away.

P40 Kittyhawk A29-82 of 2 OTU in flight - similar Curtis P40 Kittyhawk aircraft were involved in fatal accidents at 2 OTU.

2 OTU Mildura WW2. A range of aircraft can be seen including the ubiquitous P40 Kittyhawk and some Vultee Vengeance dive bombers.

Richmond Baker's Pilots Course at Queen's College, Oxford University probably in April 1918. Bert Packer is second from the left front row and two places further right is Thomas Richmond Charles Baker who went on to become an Ace with No. 4 Squadron. Students all wear white hat bands. The Supervising staff are the three men centre front of the image. Men wearing peaked caps are already commissioned officer students whereas those in 'fore and aft' caps are Other Rank trainees who would be commissioned on graduation.

Gunners of the 2nd/4th Field Regiment with one of their short 25 pounder pack howitzers prepared for air dropping at Nadzab New Guinea September 1943.

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.

Studio portrait of 427775 Flight Sergeant (Flt Sgt) Harry James Boyd, No. 24 Squadron, of Pomborneit North, Vic. Boyd enlisted as a private, service number V170264, in the Citizens' Military Forces in Oct 1941. In September 1942 he enlisted in the RAAF. On 23 March 1945, Flt Sgt Boyd was the 2nd pilot, and one of twelve men on board, of Liberator aircraft A72-80 which left RAAF Truscott to undertake reconnaissance over the Lombok Strait and island of Bali. Shortly after take off, A72-80 developed engine trouble and crashed into Vansittart Bay, WA. All on board were killed. Flt Sgt Boyd was 22 years of age.

Following the success of Le Hamel on 4 July, and the August offensive 8-11 August, King George V, who had been one of Monash's advocates, visited the Australian Corps Headquarters at Chateau Bertangles on 12 August. A display of some of the captured war material was on display along with a large turnout of troops.

A 144 Squadron "Torbeau" during the period a squadron element was detached to Algeria in 1943. Pilot Sgt P.G. Fletcher

"Six Snug Signallers" Outdoor group portrait of six signallers in the snow. Identified back row, left to right: 19636 Gunner (Gnr) Reginald Sylvester Mason; 19822 Gnr Gilbert James Simmonds; 19657 Stanley Clarence Whiting; 19806 Gnr Lewis Ewen McKenzie (later MM). Front row, seated: 19616 Gnr Frank Orman Ball and 19634 Gnr Allan Lyle McPherson (later MM). These men embarked for service overseas with the 8th Field Artillery Brigade aboard HMAT Medic (A7) on 20 May 1916 (Gnrs McPherson, Whiting and Ball from Sydney and Gnrs McKenzie and Simmonds from Melbourne). Gnr Mason, a printer from Corrowa, NSW, prior to enlistment, died of wounds in Belgium on 27 September 1917, aged 22. The other five men survived the war.

Ian Henry Denver (enlisted as I.H. Deramore-Denver), DFC

Ian Denver meets Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, in 2012.

9708 Boothey Stanley Field RH#9

3491 Private John Stanley SGELTON 9 LHR RH#21

Captain Graham Growden, 10th Battalion RSAR 1986, at the Dean Rifle Range, Osborne

1986 Simpson Trophy - Winning Team 10RSAR Team1. L-R Capt Graham"Growler" Growden, Sgt Wayne Birch and Capt Steve Larkins. Dean Range Port Adelaide

Australians standing by in a hot section of the front, 400 yards from the enemy. Many forward posts like this are isolated during the daylight hours (Original caption). This photograph was reproduced in the unit history 'Purple and blue: the history of the 2/10th Battalion' published in 1958. The men were identified in the unit history as, front to rear: VX35964 Private (Pte) William John Goodgame', VX36671 Pte Gordon James Watkins and SX1412 Pte Charles George Stening'. All three were promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal during their service. Lance Corporals Goodgame and Watkins were killed in action at Buna, Papua, on 24 December 1942. This image gives a clear impression a clear impression of the exposed nature of their position and the cramped conditions under which they operated. Charlie Stenning was a well known identity in the 2nd/10th Battalion Association after the War, Bill Goodgame in the foreground is clearly not planning to withdraw; he has no boots on! He is armed with a Thompson sub machine gun.

S/N 1 Lt Edward Addy pth Australian Infantry Battalion is remembered on the Catfield War Memorial, the village of his birth.

S/N 1 LT Edward Addy, 9th Australian Infantry Battalion Pieta Cemetery Malta

Pte V. Armstrong

Vincent Armstrong's grave at West Terrace AIF Cemetery

The front cover of Alex Kerr's wartime experience as a bomber pilot member of the 'Catepillar Club' and PoW

Group portrait of RAAF members of No 1 Course, Empire Air Training Scheme in Ottawa, Canada. Of 38 trainees, 17 were KIA (of those 9 in 1941 alone) and a further 8 were PoW, a graphic illustration of the harrowing odds for bomber crews. These were the first Australian trainee pilots sent on the scheme. After each trainee's name is noted his rank, awards and fate, obviously at a date subsequent to this photograph. Identified are: 407071 Richard Lyndon Barrett (Sergeant, killed 30 June 1941 on operations over Germany); 407072 John Miller Bishop (Flying Officer); 400024 Thomas Raymond Breheny (Flying Officer); 408000 George Maxwell Briggs (Pilot Officer, killed 10 May 1942 on operations over Malta); 400025 Robert Balmain Campbell (Flying Officer, killed 23 July 1941 on operations over the North Sea); 406004 Selwyn McKenzie Clark (Flight Lieutenant, DFC); 407041 Montague Charles Carrington Cotton (Squadron Leader, DFC); 400051 Ronald Gustave Damman (Sergeant, Prisoner of War (POW)); 407018 Robert Lindsay Davies (Pilot Officer); 402000 Frederick Agnew Vance Drummond (Sergeant, died 8 May 1941 in an accident in Scotland); 400054 Patrick Field (Sergeant, killed on operations over the Middle East); 402002 Clive Mayor Hall (Flight Lieutenant, POW); 408012 Philip Francis Grant Harbottle (Flying Officer, died 12 July 1942 in an accident in Queensland); 406027 Kenneth Marshall Hicks (Pilot Officer, killed 17 August 1941 on operations over France); 406012 Alexander McBride Kerr (Sergeant, POW); 407077 John Kinnane (Flying Officer killed 1 July 1941 on operations over Denmark, Mentioned in Despatches); 402048 George Lloyd (Flight Sergeant); 408001 Michael Mayne Maxwell (Flying Officer); 402004 Joseph Michael McCullough (Sergeant, killed 18 August 1941 on operations over the Middle East); 400044 John Philip McKechnie (Flight Lieutenant, POW, DFC); 404007 Eric William McLeod (Pilot Officer, died 25 March 1941 in an accident off Scotland); 402005 Allan Frank McSweyn (Flight Lieutenant, POW, MC); 407078 Ian Arthur Lace Milne (Sergeant, POW); 400045 David Knaggs Oak-Rhind (Pilot Officer, killed 21 May 1941 on operations over the English Channel); 400030 Eugene Hugh O'Neill (Squadron Leader, DSC, DFC); 400029 Laurance David Orbuck (Sergeant, killed 10 April 1942 on operations over Germany); 407079 William Ronald Phillips (Pilot Officer, killed 28 May 1941 on operations over United Kingdom); 402007 Alexander Cyffin Roberts (Flight Lieutenant, escaped POW, Mentioned in Despatches); 400031 Keith Edward Robinson (Flight Lieutenant, DFC, AFC, Polish Flying Badge); Ross (Sergeant, killed on operations over north west Europe); 407019 Maxwell Robert 402008 Arthur George Schwager (Flight Sergeant, killed on operations over the Middle East); 402041 Thomas William Scott (Flight Lieutenant); 407021 Frank Gemmel Sheppard (Flight Lieutenant); 400032 William John Shirtcliffe (Pilot Officer, died 25 February 1941 in an accident in United Kingdom); 402009 Eric Blair Tainton (Flight Lieutenant); 402011 Robert James Uhrig (Sergeant, died 10 April 1941 in an accident in United Kingdom); 400033 Ernest Valentine Walliker (Flight Lieutenant); 400048 Peter Frank Wilson (Flight Lieutenant); 407023 Francis Ainslie Wood (Flying Officer); 408003 Jack Steven Richards Woolnough (Flight Sergeant, died 17 January 1942 in an accident in United Kingdom).

A colourised version of a photograph taken in the same sequence as. It shows two key colour schemes applied to RAAF Hudsons immediately prior to and during the early stages of WW2. A16-3 is painted matt black underneath, the others a sky blue. A16-38 is painted foliage green on the upper surfaces, the other two have a disruptive pattern with dark earth applied.

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.

https://nominal-rolls.dva.gov.au/veteran?id=137281&c=WW2