LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Ally Cecil Clifton DAVIES
Service No: 406124
Born: Gnowangerup WA, 24 January 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 15 August 1940
Unit: No. 75 Squadron, Port Moresby PNG
Died: Air Operations: (No. 75 Squadron Kittyhawk aircraft A29-15), New Guinea, 13 April 1942, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Rowland Botterrill Davies and Ethel Rose Cecil Davies; husband of Joan Olive Davies, of Ascot, Queensland.
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 6, Lae Memorial, PNG
Remembered: Panel 103, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
Remembered: Honour Avenues, Kings Park WA
In a fierce encounter on the 13th, Pilot Officer Channon (411286) shot down one Zero and probably another and one Kittyhawk pilot, Flying Officer Davies, was shot down by Zeros.
Extract from Gillison, D. (Douglas) Royal Australian Air Force 1939-1942, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1962 – Page 545
No air fighting occurred before the same team visited Lae on the 13th, seeking an oil tanker
reported there, but it had sailed, so the formation turned against the aerodrome. The Australian
top cover consisted of three Kittyhawks in a ‘V’, with the close cover of four in two pairs, echeloned
to the right. The Australians intercepted enemy fighters. Flying Officer John Piper (1) continued his success with the destruction of a Zero and Channon was credited with the destruction of a Zero and the possible destruction or another, but his aircraft was hit and four bullet holes were counted when he landed. ‘Bink’ Davies was shot down, last seen by Piper spinning earthward, out of control.
The Japanese claimed four P-40s shot down for damage to two of their own aircraft.
(1) Flight Lieutenant John Walter Wedgwood Piper DFC (250128) was discharged from the RAAF on 9 March 1945.
Extract from Wilson, D. (David) See and Strike: 75 Squadron RAAF 1942-2002, Banner Books Maryborough QLD 4650, 2002 – Pages 31-2
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 A705, 166/1/319 Part 3
Bibliography:
Wilson, D. (David) The Decisive Factor: 75 and 76 squadrons Port Moresby and Milne Bay 1942, Banner Books Brunswick VIC 3056, 1991
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Spitfire, Mustang and Kittyhawk in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1988