LEST WE FORGET
Leading Aircraftman George Jarvis EDWARDS
Service No: 25843
Born: Mackay QLD, 27 March 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 16 May 1941
Unit: No. 33 Squadron, Townsville QLD
Died: Air Operations: (Empire Flying Boat A18-11), Coral Sea, 8 August 1942, Aged 19 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of George William and Amelia Jarvis Edwards, of Kedron, Queensland
Roll of Honour: Mackay QLD
Remembered: Panel 7, Lae Memorial PNG
Remembered: Panel 103, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1125 hours on 8 August 1942, Empire Flying Boat A18-11 departed Horn Island on an operational search task. The aircraft alighted in the open ocean at position 09.00S 144.08E during which there was a bottom “blow-in” in the spar compartment. The compartment collapsed and the aircraft rapidly filled with water. Leading Aircraftman Edwards is presumed to have been trapped in the rush of water and was not seen again. The other crew members were taken off in survival dinghies.
The crew members of A18-11 were:
Corporal Emanuel Michael Casimaty (6510) (Fitter IIE) Discharged from the RAAF: 6 October 1945
Sergeant Frederick Michael Darmody (401745) (Wireless Air Gunner) Discharged from the RAAF: 30 January 1946
Leading Aircraftman George Jarvis Edwards (25843) (Flight Rigger)
Leading Aircraftman Leonard Walter Henderson (41638) Discharged from the RAAF: 20 March 1946
Sergeant Harold Cecil Howes (405858) (Third Pilot) Discharged from the RAAF: 1 March 1945
Sergeant Hartley Neil Kilsby (407741) (Wireless Air Gunner) Discharged from the RAAF: 12 July 1945
Flight Lieutenant Michael Vaughan Mather AFC (260486) (Pilot) Discharged from the RAAF: 26 February 1944
Pilot Officer Dudley Richard Moore Thrift (Second Pilot) (403834) Discharged from the RAAF: 2 April 1946
Leading Aircraftman Charles Stanley Williams (24140) (Fitter Armourer) Discharged from the RAAF: 30 November 1945
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, 203; A705, 163/58/90 (digitalised file provides précis of the event)