LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Neil Stewart GILL
Service No: 408123
Born: Maryborough VIC, 27 January 1916
Enlisted in the RAAF: 6 December 1940 (at Hobart TAS)
Unit: No. 36 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations (No. 36 Squadron Albacore aircraft T0135), Malaya, 26 January 1942, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of James Stewart Gill and Jessie Stewart Gill, of Launceston, Tasmania
Roll of Honour: Launceston TAS
Remembered: Column 422, Singapore Memorial, Singapore
Remembered: Panel 122, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 26 January 1942 Albacore T0135 was shot down by Japanese carrier fighters while attacking a large Japanese invasion fleet at the mouth of the River Merseing on the south east coast of Malaya, in the vicinity of Endau. Out of the attacking force of 36 aircraft from Nos 36, 100 and 16 Squadrons RAF, 19 aircraft were lost. In 1947 the wreck of T0135 was found in position 02.37N 103.46.5E about 3 to 4 miles due north of Telok Sari near Endau and in shallow water. The wreckage was uncovered at low tides. The remains of any of the missing crew members were irrecoverable.
The crew members of T0135 were:
Sergeant Andrew Martin Hearn Fleming (40965) (RNZAF) (Pilot)
Sergeant Neil Stewart Gill (408123) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Sergeant John Hartley Henderson (400860) (Observer)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/117/123