LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Norman Baxter CLARK
Service No: 406712
Born: Subiaco, 21 May 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 31 March 1941
Unit: No. 32 Squadron, Camden, NSW
Died: Aircraft Accident: Coral Sea and Midway (No. 32 Squadron Hudson aircraft A16-173) Dapto NSW, 4 November 1942, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Wollongong General Cemetery NSW
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William Thomas Clark and Florence Mary Clark, of West Leederville, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Perth WA
Remembered: Panel 102, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
No. 32 Squadron records indicate that it was not until 4th November that operations from Camden began, the Squadron sharing facilities with ‘B’ Flight of No. 73 Squadron equipped with Ansons. …
The first operation was flown in daylight, although in bad weather; two Hudsons were dispatched to search for an enemy submarine reportedly sighted by an outward-bound Norwegian vessel. The two aircraft, flying some ten miles apart, undertook a square search of the area, but found nothing. Both Hudsons then returned to land, but A16-173, flown by Sgt Norm “Nobby” Clark, a No. 13 Course Empire Air Training Scheme graduate, crashed near Wollongong and was totally destroyed. There were no survivors among the crew of four. It was a sad start to No. 32 Squadron’s Camden-based operations.
Extracts from Vincent, D. (David) The RAAF Hudson Story Book 1, D. Vincent Highbury SA 5089, 1989 – Page 205
The crew members of A16-173 were:
Sergeant Norman Baxter Clark (406712) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Bernard James Hubbard (401037) (Navigator)
Sergeant Joseph Hall Iredell (408580) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Geoffrey Alfred Rich (412187) (Wireless Air Gunner)
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, 137
Bibliography:
Gaston, Bruce DFC (406646), Harry Horner DFC OAM (406595), Raymond Storer (406666) (Editors), Aircrew for the Duration: of and by members of RAAF EATS Courses 10, 11, 12 & 13, Gaston Horner and Storer, Nedlands WA, 1990
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Anson, Hudson and Sunderland in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1992