LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant George HEADS
Service No: 400027
Born: Middlemarch NZ, 27 July 1910
Enlisted in the RAAF: 29 April 1940 (at Melbourne VIC)
Unit: No. 33 Squadron
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 33 Squadron C47 aircraft A65-15), Milne Bay PNG, 7 June 1944, Aged 33 Years
Buried: Port Moresby (Bomana) Cemetery, PNG
CWGC Additional Information: Son of George Michael Heads, and of Verena Annie Heads (nee Cary).
Roll of Honour: Rose Bay NSW
Remembered: Panel 103, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
Flight Lieutenant Heads enlisted from Victoria and has a Victorian Service Number (400XXX) but is listed on the South Australian Memorial; the reason for this is not clear from the NAA records.
An explosion was reported 11 minutes after Dakota A65-15 took-off from Milne Bay enroute to Port Moresby. In poor visibility, the aircraft had crashed into the surrounding mountains and the four crew members on board were killed.
The crew members of A16-65 were:
Flight Lieutenant George Heads (400027) (Pilot)
Leading Aircraftman William James Martin O’Brien (67902) (Instrument Maker flying as Wireless Operator)
Flight Sergeant David Harry Palmer (429726) (Second Pilot)
Flying Officer William Joseph Wilson (419451) (Navigator)
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, 116
Bibliography:
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Dakota, Hercules and Caribou in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1990