| Place | Oceania: Australia, Northern Territory |
|---|---|
| Accession Number | NWA0073 |
| Collection type | Photograph |
| Object type | Negative |
| Place made | Australia: Northern Territory, Hughes Airstrip |
| Date made | February 1943 |
| Conflict |
Second World War, 1939-1945 |
| Copyright |
Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain
|
Members of No. 2 (Hudson) Squadron RAAF stand beside their aircraft, under light camouflage, ...
Description
Members of No. 2 (Hudson) Squadron RAAF stand beside their aircraft, under light camouflage, about to set out on operations. Identified personnel are: Flight Sergeant R Durbin; Sergeant (Sgt) I Parker; Flying Officer (FO) R Dixon; Sgt T D Dargan, and Sgt F E Boyd. The Lockheed Hudson behind them, (constructor's no 6483) is A16-233, which, on 8 September 1943, failed to return from a No. 2 Squadron mission code named 'Horse', a reconnaissance patrol in the Tanimbar Islands. The following day, Hudsons A16-192, -236 and -204 were tasked with completing the mission and to search for the missing Hudson and crew. No sightings were made, despite a six hour mission. The missing crew were FO Lynnton Martin, Flight Sergeant (Flt Sgt) Ralph H Williams, Flt Sgt Marcus Wettenhall, Flt Sgt Maurice A Graham and Flt Sgt Jack Boanas. Post war investigations revealed that A16-233 had been shot down whilst attacking a small Japanese merchant ship north of Tanimbar and that Graham and Boanas had been able to bail out. They were captured by the Japanese, taken to Toeal on the Kai Island (where elements of the Japanese airforce was based at Langgur) and later transferred to Ambon, where both were executed on 31 October 1943.