LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Alexander Eric John ELSBURY
Service No: 415378
Born: Boulder WA, 11 December 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 9 October 1941
Unit: No. 11 Squadron, Cairns QLD
Died: Air Operations: ASW Operations in 1943 (No. 11 Squadron Catalina aircraft A24-25), Coral Sea, 28 February 1943, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of George Alexander Elsbury and Marguerita Catherine Ellen Vera Elsbury, of East Perth, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 9, Port Moresby Memorial, PNG
Remembered: Panel 100, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
Remembered: Catalina Base Memorial, Rathmines NSW
Remembered: Rathmines Memorial Bowling Club, Rathmines NSW
RAAF Catalina aircraft A24-25 is recorded as having been lost on an anti-submarine patrol while operating from Cairns QLD.
The crew members of A24-25 were:
Squadron Leader Eric Hamilton Barkley (250281) (Second Pilot)
Wing Commander John William Daniell (140) (Pilot)
Flying Officer Lewis Melvin Dunham (406672) (Observer)
Sergeant Allan Richard Eather (402703) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Alexander Eric John Elsbury (415378) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Stuart Patrick King (255266) (Squadron Intelligence Officer)
Sergeant Norman Notley Moore (408861) (Third Pilot)
Sergeant John Daniel O’Grady (5778) (Fitter II Airframe)
Corporal Douglas Giffen Shaw Russell (13970) (Armourer)
Corporal John Corbett Stain (2437) (Fitter II Engines)
Sergeant Keith Arnold Watson (22692) (Fitter II Engines)
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, 145
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line
Bibliography:
McFarlane, C.C. (Cyrus C.) Tojo’s Fate: Australia’s secret war, Sid Harta Publishers Glen Waverley VIC 3150, 2009
McMillan A. (Andrew) Catalina Dreaming: rescues exciting missions and other stories about the famous Australian flying boats of WWII, Duffy and Snellgrove Potts Point NSW, 2002
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Catalina, Neptune and Orion in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1991