LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant William James CORNES
Service No: 435651
Born: Wallsend NSW, 20 October 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 12 July 1943
Unit: No. 24 Squadron, Fenton NT
Died: Air Operations (No. 24 Squadron Liberator aircraft A72-70), Timor, 23 January 1945, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Walter Percival and Ivy Ethel Cornes, of Croydon, New South Wales.
Roll of Honour: Croydon NSW
Remembered: Panel 9, Northern Territory Memorial, Adelaide River NT
Remembered: Panel 102, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
No. 24 Squadron had been operating in the Northern Territory since May 1944, but neither it nor any other squadron had lost a Liberator as a result of enemy action until 23rd January, when an aircraft captained by Pilot Officer Richards and with a crew of nine others, was shot down by anti-aircraft fire over Cape Chater, Timor, while on its way to the Flores Sea to carry out an armed reconnaissance.
Extract from Odgers, G.J. (George James) (VX127783) Air War Against Japan 1943-1945, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1957 – Page 401
The crew members of A72-70 were:
Warrant Officer Evelyn Bruce Baile (415603) (Second Pilot)
Flight Sergeant William James Cornes (435651) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Kenneth William Edwards (400053) (Air Gunner)
Flight Lieutenant Thomas Guy Evans (401186) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Flight Sergeant Graham Neil Head (431625) (Wireless Operator Air)
Warrant Officer Jack Holt (412142) (Wireless Operator Air)
Sergeant David Knox Kyle-Little (6584) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant Noel Patrick Martin (433734) (Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Kenwyn Howard Richards (407253) (Pilot)
Flight Lieutenant Joseph Arthur William Stevenson (425068) (Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Leonard King Teitzel DFC (405430) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
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, 71
Bibliography:
Nelmes, M.V. (Michael) Tocumwal to Tarakan: Australians and the Consolidated B-24 Liberator, Banner Books Belconnen ACT 2616, 1994
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Boston, Mitchell and Liberator in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1992