Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

916 Frederick Rawlings Pheasant Wood Cemetery Fromelles France

A privately own and flown CAC Wirraway operating in the 1980s before the 'Warbird' vintage military aviation movement got under way in Australia.

Flying Officer Jack Brittain

Percy Geason's grave at Pheasant Wood cemetery

Harold George Woodman's grave Pheasant Wood

A memorial to the 460 Squadron crew lost on 13th June 1943

Graves of the crew of 460 Squadron Lancaster lost here 13th June 1943

GRaves of the crew of 460 Squadron Lancaster lost here 13th June 1943

Commemorative Medallion which together with a Commemorative Scroll, were presented to the families of the Fallen

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).

John Alfred Cocks - son of Richard Alfred Cocks

A Halifax of 462 Squadron taken from the flight deck of another, with the Bristol Hercules radial engines that powered this variant (B Mk III) in detail. Earlier variants had been powered by the Rolls Royce Merlin V12 liquid cooled engines made famous by the Lancaster and Spitfire. The legendary Merlin was outclassed on the Halifax airframe by the Hercules which delivered better speed and ceiling performance. Paradoxically, the reverse was true on the Lancaster. The Halifax B Mk III was also characterised by larger rectangular vertical stabilisers compared to the smaller pointed fins of earlier variants that had lateral caused stability problems.

HEadstones of two Commonwealth airmen

Risor, Aust-Agder, Norway

Reginald Alfred Charles HEALEY 54th Battalion

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

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.

The pilot of a Handley-Page Halifax of No. 35 Squadron in his position prior to take-off at Linton-On-Ouse, Yorkshire. Date between circa 1940 and circa 1942

3495A Gunner (Gnr) Harold Constantine 5th DAC

Two men of the 7th Australian Light Trench Mortar Battery operate a mortar established in a machine gun post on the new front line near Villers-Bretonneux. From left to right: 1916 Lance Corporal A J Ellis and 2700 Private A Lawler. Photograph taken 10 July 1918.

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 taken during the D Day operations phase at Davidstow in Cornwall

Jim Whalley's Boomerang A46-63 on short finals

"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.

Private Leslie Robert Templeman RH#26

The Vickers Armstrong QF 2 pounder Anti Tank Gun which equipped Australian Anti Tank / Tank Attack units. Although outclassed by the armoured protection of modern tanks such as the German Pzkw III and later so was hard pressed in the Middle East in WW2, it was more than adequate to deal with Japanese tanks encountered in the SW Pacific exemplified in the ambushes conducted in the Malaya campaign.

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.

NX207799 Private John Ernest PARRY

Major Graham Growden

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

Ronald (Ron) Henry Parsloe 24 Squadron Gunner/Navigator

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).

The pilot (on the right) and Flight Engineer of a No. 149 Squadron Vickers Wellington bomber in 1941

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.

LONDON, ENGLAND. 1944-02-01. 400297 SQUADRON LEADER E. C. SMITH DFC, HORSHAM, VIC (LEFT) AND 402071 FLIGHT LIEUTENANT F. B. GASCOIGNE DFC, EAST MALVERN, VIC, WHILE SERVING WITH NO. 461 (SUNDERLAND) SQUADRON RAAF, OUTSIDE BUCKINGHAM PALACE AFTER AN INVESTITURE. THEY HAVE FLOWN TOGETHER AS CAPTAIN AND NAVIGATOR RESPECTIVELY ON MANY OPERATIONS

36211 Gunner Ralph French, 3rd Field Artillery Brigade

Photographed during WW2 service

2015 photograph

An informal squadron briefing at 24 Squadron - A72-80 in shot at rear of he group of men walking towards the camera.

Flying Officer Vic Hodgkinson

G for George a tribute to all RAAF Aircrew who flew with RAF Bomber Command

Cover of the History of 2 OTU

HMAS Perth engaged in the Battle of Sunda Strait 1 March 1942, during which both HMAS Perth and USS Houston were sunk.

Approximate dispositions of the Battle of Sunda Strait 1 March 1942

Short ‘Empire’, VH-ABB ‘Coolangatta’ of QANTAS. Impressed by RAAF as A18-13 and allocated to 11 Squadron RAAF. It was returned to QANTAS on 13 July 1943, but crashed in Sydney Harbour on 11 October 1944.

Short ‘Empire’, VH-ABB ‘Coolangatta’ of QANTAS. Impressed by RAAF as A18-13 and allocated to 11 Squadron RAAF. It was returned to QANTAS on 13 July 1943, but crashed in Sydney Harbour on 11 October 1944.

Informal portrait of 407016 Squadron Leader W. K. Bolitho DFC of Mannum, SA, pilot, of No. 11 (Catalina) Squadron RAAF.

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