LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant Kenneth James ERWIN
Service No: 261863
Born: 10 June 1918, Location Unavailable
Enlisted in the RAAF: 29 August 1940
Unit: No. 32 Squadron, Seven Mile Strip, Port Moresby
Died: Prisoner of War (Executed): New Britain, 4 March 1942, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Rabaul (Bita Paka) War Cemetery, PNG
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Patrick James Erwin and May Madeline Erwin, of Leichhardt, New South Wales, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Newcastle NSW
Remembered: Panel 103, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Leichardt Memorial, Leichardt NSW
Remembered: Royal Newcastle Aero Club Roll of Honour, Rutherford NSW
A16-165 was one of four No. 32 Squadron Hudson aircraft operating from Seven Mile airstrip, Port Moresby, tasked with a night bombing raid on Gasmata New Britain on 3 March 1942. On this operation, A16-101 and A16-165 went missing.
The crew members of A16-165 were:
Sergeant Ian Munro Barwick (5810) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Lieutenant Kenneth James Erwin (261863) (Pilot) PoW, Executed: 4 March 1942
Pilot Officer Eric Lyle McLauchlan (405644) (Second Pilot)
Sergeant James Watt Simpson (400570) (Wireless Air Gunner)
No. 32 Squadron lost Hudson A16-101 (Flying Officer Arthur Renfred Nicolay (406013) (Pilot)) on 3 March 1942.
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, 163/30/53
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line
Bibliography:
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Anson, Hudson and Sunderland in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1992