LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Ronald Arthur HOCKING
Service No: 39161
Born: Thebarton SA, 5 May 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 15 April 1941
Unit: No. 31 Squadron, Coomalie Creek NT
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 31 Squadron Beaufighter aircraft A19-116), Milingimbi NT, 25 September 1943, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Adelaide River War Cemetery, NT
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William Arthur and Clara May Hocking; husband of Olive Lavinia Hocking, of Rose Park, South Australia.
Roll of Honour: Adelaide SA
Remembered: Panel 102, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
Beaufighter A19-116 crashed just after takeoff at Milingimbi, killing all on board. Those killed were:
Leading Aircraftman Nathaniel Ross Beggs (40978) (Fitter IIE)
Corporal John Roland Gorton (19218) (Fitter IIE)
Flying Officer Ronald Arthur Hocking (39161) (Navigator)
Flying Officer Donald Gordon Taylor (406738) (Pilot)
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, 17
Bibliography:
Parnell, N.M. (Neville M.) Whispering Death: A history of the RAAF’s Beaufighter Squadrons, AH & AW Reed, Terry Hills NSW, 1980
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Beaufort, Beaufighter and Mosquito in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1990