LEST WE FORGET
Warrant Officer Clement Thisleton HALPIN
Service No: 420746
Born: Burringbar NSW, 16 May 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 9 November 1941
Unit: No. 3 Squadron
Died: Air Operations: (No. 3 Squadron Kittyhawk aircraft FX760), Italy, 21 August 1944, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Ancona War Cemetery, Italy
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Cyril and Ida Francis Halpin, of Tweed Heads, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 98, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Byron Bay War Memorial Gates and Memorial Park Sports Fields, Byron Bay NSW
On 21 August 1944, Kittyhawk FX760 flown by Warrant Officer Halpin was Yellow 2 in a section of 6 aircraft, briefed to attack gun positions near Pesaro, Italy. At 1745 hours while in a bomb dive,
FX760 was hit in the cockpit by 20mm anti-aircraft fire. The aircraft was seen to spin clockwise and crash, killing Warrant Officer Halpin.
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, 166/17/714
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line