LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Stanley Burfield HUNT
Service No: 412078
Born: Gladesville NSW, 2 April 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 21 June 1941
Unit: No. 75 Squadron
Died: Air Operations: (No. 75 Squadron Kittyhawk aircraft A29-530), near Madang PNG, 27 January 1944, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Lae War Cemetery PNG
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Horace Edgar and Dorothy Hunt; husband of Delmar Elizabeth Hunt, of Speers Point, New South Wales
Roll of Honour: Nevertire NSW
Remembered: Panel 103, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Honour Roll of Old Newingtonians, Stanmore NSW
On the 27 January 1944, Kittyhawk A29-530 flown by Flying Officer Hunt was one of 12 Kittyhawks detailed to carry out the strafing of a target on Jomnba Island, about two miles south of Madang, New Guinea. A29-530 was coming into the target from the north west at 2,000 feet in a gentle diving turn to starboard. Another aircraft flown by Flight Sergeant Crothers was following A29-530, on the same course a short distance behind. Pilot Officer Stirling flying Kittyhawk A29-523 was about 800 feet below coming in from the west in a slight diving turn on to the target, and directly below the two aircraft. The three aircraft converged on the Island and at 200 feet on the west side of the island. Flying Officer Hunt, who could not see Pilot Officer Stirling’s aircraft below him, collided with it as it attempted to pull away to starboard. Both aircraft fell to the ground, exploded on impact, and both pilots were killed. The pilots were:
Flying Officer Stanley Burfield Hunt (412078) (Pilot) A29-530
Pilot Officer James McLaren Stirling MID (405427) (Pilot) A29-523
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, 166/18/265
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line