| Accession Number | P03079.001 |
|---|---|
| Collection type | Photograph |
| Object type | Black & white, Portrait |
| Physical description | Black & white, Portrait |
| Maker |
Unknown |
| Conflict |
Second World War, 1939-1945 |
| Copyright |
Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain
|
Informal portrait of 22068 Flight Lieutenant (Flt Lt) Keith Clarence Matthews, No. 77 Squadron ...
Description
Informal portrait of 22068 Flight Lieutenant (Flt Lt) Keith Clarence Matthews, No. 77 Squadron RAAF, of Parkes, NSW. He enlisted in the RAAF on 18 July 1942, and trained as a fighter pilot in the Empire Air Training Scheme in Canada, before being commissioned on 9 July 1943. He was posted to the United Kingdom and while attached to No. 183 (Typhoon) Squadron, he was shot down over Normandy, France while strafing a level crossing, on 24 June 1944, and taken prisoner of war (POW). He spent eleven months in Stalag Luft 3 in Germany and returned home on 9 September 1945, electing to remain in the RAAF. In 1950, he was posted to No. 77 Squadron in Korea. On 14 February 1951, while flying a Mustang, he failed to return from a mission over enemy territory during a severe snow storm and was posted missing presumed killed, along with A5166 Warrant Officer Sinclair Sutherland Squiers, also from Parkes. He is buried in the British Commonwealth Section of the United Nations Cemetery, Tanggok, Pusan, Korea.