LEST WE FORGET
Corporal George Rupert Anzac KANAKE
Service No: 19264
Born: Melbourne VIC, 25 April 1916
Enlisted in the RAAF: 21 October 1940
Unit: No. 1 Operational Training Unit, Bairnsdale VIC
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 1 Operational Training Unit Oxford aircraft BG473), near Bairnsdale, 28 January 1943, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Bairnsdale War Cemetery, VIC
CWGC Additional Information: Son of George Rupert and Margareta Kanake; husband of Jessica Margaret Kanake, of Surrey Hills.
Roll of Honour: St Kilda VIC
Remembered: Panel 112, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 28 January 1943, Airspeed Oxford BG473 crashed at 6 kms west of Bairnsdale, killing its crew. The aircraft is reported to have “collapsed in the air”. The crew members of BG473 were:
Corporal George Rupert Anzac Kanake (19264) (Fitter IIE)
Sergeant Leslie James Reid (406955) (Pilot)
Pilot Officer John Michael Whitehead (411836) (Second 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, 239