LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Joseph Patrick BOURKE
Service No: 142538
Born: Richmond VIC, 28 September 1916
Enlisted in the RAAF: 10 June 1943
Unit: No. 18 Squadron, Sepinggang
Died: Air Operations: (No. 18 Squadron Mitchell aircraft N5-255), Celebes (Sulawesi), 4 September 1945, Aged 28 Years
Buried: Ambon War Cemetery, Indonesia
CWGC Additional Information: Son of James Francis and Mary Ann Bourke, of Richmond, Victoria, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Richmond VIC
Remembered: Panel 101, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 0903 Hours on 4 September 1945 Mitchell N5-222 departed Sepinggang airstrip to conduct a shipping search and locate internee camps in the Celebes. At 0953 hours the aircraft gave a position report of 03.00 degrees South 118.55 degrees east, placing it over enemy held territory and then northing further was heard and the aircraft did not return. PoW wireless at Macassar reported that an aircraft had crashed at Marling, near Macassar, which on investigation was N5-255. All on board had been killed.
The crew members of N5-255 were:
Flight Sergeant Joseph Patrick Bourke (142538) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Major Wiklem Laurhns De Bruyn (NEIAF) (Second Pilot)
Sergeant Herman Joseph Henri Mari Corbiere (NEIAF) (Wireless Operator)
Sergeant Major Mauris Alexander Couwenberg (NEIAF) (Turret Gunner)
First Lieutenant Pieter De Vos (NEIAF) (Pilot)
Warrant Officer Arthur Henry Sloane (16543) (Clerk General)
First Lieutenant Pieter Johan Wallim (NEIAF) (Navigator)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A9845, 23
Bibliography:
Hurst, D. (Doug) The Fourth Ally: The Dutch forces in Australia in WWII, Doug Hurst, Canberra, 2001