... Not Ever, Ever, Ever .... perhaps I'm just one strange cat but everyday I spend a little time remembering ALL the veterans past and present. It's just what I choose to do. I think of good ole dad and ALL the others who came before him and after him and it makes no difference who or where they came from. 69 years ago this Sunday these hero's were lost. We cannot forget them. Again it makes no difference the Country of which they served to me. Hero's are made by effort and sacrifice and not by nationality. I hope this Sunday some of us will find it appropriate to open this thread again and take another look at a group of hero's from our past. They earned to be remembered and appreciated and missed by all of us.
God bless their families, God bless their Country, God bless their memory.
Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Consolidated B-24L Liberator A72-92. Failed to return from a photographic reconnaissance mission to North Celebes 27 July 1945. Aircraft was hit by Japanese Anti-Aircraft fire and crashed near Tomohon.
Crew of 12 buried Ambon War Cemetery:
No. 441014 Flight Sergeant Stephen Patrick Cloake Air Gunner, Killed.
No. 419295 Warrant Officer Alfred Cook Navigator, Killed.
No. 403585 Flight Lieutenant Kenneth John Hanson Pilot, Killed.
No. 440787 Flight Sergeant Brendan Michael Heslin Air Gunner, Killed.
No. 427095 Flying Officer John James Hume Co-Pilot, Killed.
No. 437421 Flight Sergeant Frank Grainger Vincent Hutton Air Gunner, Killed.
No. 427712 Warrant Officer George Grey Lindley W.O.A.G, bailed out and captured by Japanese. Held in Japanese military prison at Kaaten. Killed by Japanese guards on 21 August 1945 after the surrender of Japan. The Japanese guards responsible convicted and executed.
No. 80471 Flight Sergeant Arnold Alexander Lockyer Flight Engineer, bailed out and captured by Japanese. Held in Japanese military prison at Kaaten. Killed by Japanese guards on 21 August 1945 after the surrender of Japan. The Japanese guards responsible convicted and executed.
No. 435994 Flight Sergeant William James Maxwell Air Gunner, Killed.
No. 440381 Flight Sergeant Charles Neville Nichol Bomb Aimer, Killed.
No. 441469 Flight Sergeant John Victor Orgill W.O.A.G., Bailed out and captured by Japanese. Died 28 July 1945 from injuries received when resisting his guards at Kakaskasen gaol.
No. 36403344 Corporal J.R. Waite, U.S.A.A.C. Weather Observer, Killed.
LEST WE FORGET
From the collection of Peter Barlow (RAAF service number O210684).
Flight Lieutenant Kenneth John Hanson, 21 Squadron RAAF, was killed in action on 27 July 1945 during air operations over The Netherlands, East Indies
Informal group portrait which includes 10 of the 12 crew members of Liberator (B-24L) A72-92 which crashed after being attacked by Japanese anti-aircraft fire over the Celebes, East Indies, on 27 July 1945. Nine of the 12 were killed. Three survived the crash but were later captured by the Japanese and executed. Identified in the back row seated on verandah, from left to right: 440787 Flight Sergeant (Flt Sgt) Brendan Michael Heslin, Air Gunner, No 21 Squadron from Wagga Wagga, NSW; 419295 Flt Sgt Alfred Cook, Navigator, No 21 Squadron; 437421 Flt Sgt Frank Grainger Vincent Hutton, Air Gunner, No 23 Squadron; 441469 Flt Sgt John Victor Orgill, Wireless Operator, No 21 Squadron from North Beach Western Australia (executed 28 July 1945); and 441014 Flt Sgt Stephen Patrick Cloake, Air Gunner, No 21 Squadron from Brisbane, Queensland. Middle Row from left to right: 403585 Flight Lieutenant (Flt Lt) Kenneth John Hanson, Pilot, No 21 Squadron from Killara, NSW (holding object and with leg over bicycle); 427095 Flying Officer (FO) John James Oliver Hume, Co-Pilot, No 21 Squadron; and A36363 Flight Sergeant Robert Hamilton Percy, Engineer, who was not onboard A72-92 when it crashed. Front Row 440381 Flt Sgt Charles Neville Nichol, Bomb Aimer, No 21 Squadron (leaning against bicycle); 427712 Flt Sgt George Grey Lindley, Wireless Operator, No 21 Squadron (executed 21 August 1945); 435994 Flt Sgt William James Maxwell, Air Gunner, No 21 Squadron, of Brisbane. The two other crew members who are not in the photograph were 80471 Flt Sgt Arnold Alexander Lockyer, Flight Engineer, No 24 Squadron (executed on 21 August 1945) and 36404344 Corporal Waite, United States Army Air Corp who joined the flight as a weather observer.
Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Consolidated B-24L Liberator A72-92.
Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Consolidated B-24L Liberator A72-92.
(I can only hope I didn't screw this up, if I did in anyway please forgive the error)
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