45971 Aircraftman Class 1 John Vincent Colin Matheson.

Informal outdoor portrait of 45971 Aircraftman Class 1 (AC 1) John Vincent Colin Matheson. Originally from South Australia, Matheson was working as a miner in South Kalgoorlie, WA, when he enlisted on 13 November 1941. On the afternoon of 14 July 1943 AC 1 Matheson accompanied a crew on a test flight of Avro-Anson aircraft W-2556. Also on board the aircraft were the pilot, 406662 Flying Officer John Frederick (Jack) Pettit, and maintenance team consisting of 27786 Corporal James Dennis Horrigan, 116182 Aircraftman Desmond Whenan and 59315 Leading Aircraftman Donald Beresford Tucker. W-2556 failed to return to the training school at Mallala, SA, and no further information was known about its movements. An extensive search discovered debris in the sea off Parham on the eastern side of St Vincent's Gulf, SA, but no trace of the crew was found. AC 1 Matheson was 36 years old. His name, along with those of the crew, is recorded on the Sydney Memorial, NSW.