LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant Keith Edmund DANIEL
Service No: 402852
Born: Menangle NSW, 17 October 1916
Enlisted in the RAAF: 11 November 1940
Unit: No. 2 Squadron, Milingimbi NT
Died: Aircraft Accident: (No. 2 Squadron Hudson aircraft A16-197), Rabuma Island, 20 April 1943, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Adelaide River War Cemetery, NT
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Edmund Blair Wentworth Daniel and Ruby Annie Daniel; husband of Ailsa Sutton Daniel, of Wahroonga, New South Wales
Roll of Honour: Moree NSW
Remembered: Panel 98, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Moree War Memorial Hall – World War II Honour Rolls, Moree NSW
Remembered: Commonwealth Bank of Australia Honour Rolls, Sydney NSW
At 0614 hours on 20 April 1943, soon after their two Hudsons set off from Milingimbi to bomb Timoeka in Dutch New Guinea, Flight Lieutenant Keith Daniel (A16-197) and Flying Officer Keith Mills (A16-183) collided over Rabuma Island. All members from both the crews were killed in the subsequent explosions and crashes.
The crew members of A16-197 were:
Pilot Officer Joseph Gipson Butler (408820) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Lieutenant Keith Edmund Daniel (402852) (Pilot)
Pilot Officer William Julius Henderson Gove (401636) (Navigator)
Flying Officer Jack Laws (412979) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Thomas William Wilson (408899) (Wireless Air Gunner)
The crew members of A16-183 were:
Pilot Officer John Loughnan Barnes (404946) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Pilot Officer Trevor William Bassan (411985) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Harold Herbert Keith Hadley (411904) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Noel Edward John (409551) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Keith Rosslyn Mills (405637) (Pilot)
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
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line