LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant Harry Blinman DAWKINS
Service No: 280791
Born: Gawler SA, 15 April 1917
Enlisted in the RAAF: 4 March 1940
Unit: No. 22 Squadron
Died: Prisoner of War (from the loss of No. 22 Squadron Boston aircraft A28-15 on 12 September 1943), New Britain, 22 July 1944, Aged 27 Years
Buried: Rabaul (Bita Paka) War Cemetery, PNG
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Harry Blinman Dawkins and Elsie Maud Dawkins, of Gawler, South Australia; husband of Grace May Dawkins, of Gawler
Roll of Honour: Gawler SA
Remembered: Panel 101, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
On 12 September 1943 while making an attack on enemy shipping south of New Britain, Boston A28-15 was hit by anti-aircraft fire and forced to ditch near Gasmata. The three crew members were observed to board a life raft apparently uninjured. The observing aircraft had to leave the area soon after the ditching, but extensive searches were later carried out with no successful result.
The crew members of A28-15 who were all from South Australia were:
Flight Lieutenant Harry Blinman Dawkins (280791) (Pilot) PoW, Died 22 July 1944
Sergeant Douglas George Semple (26741) (Wireless Air Gunner) Died 12 September 1943
Sergeant Gordon Ronald Thomas (417011) (Wireless Air Gunner) PoW, Died 5 March 1944
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, 216
Bibliography:
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Boston, Mitchell and Liberator in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1992