LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant Frank Haighton LORD
Service No: 252297
Born: 8 March 1910, Location Unavailable
Enlisted in the RAAF: Date Unavailable
Unit: No. 6 Medical Receiving Station, Merauke, New Guinea
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 11 Squadron Catalina aircraft A24-52), Cleveland Bay QLD, 7 September 1943, Aged 33 Years
Buried: Townsville War Cemetery, QLD
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Dr. Percy Oswald Lord and Francisca Frederica Lord; husband of Margaret Ethel Lord, of South Caulfield, Victoria. M.B., B.S. (Melb.), M.R.C.O.G. (England).
Roll of Honour: Melbourne VIC
Remembered: Panel 114, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1648 hours on 7 September 1943, Catalina A24-52 crashed and sank in the alighting area in Cleveland Bay at the end of a travel flight. The accident occurred following the structural failure of a forward portion of the hull caused by alighting in a heavy sea in a normal planning attitude. On board A24-52 were:
No. 11 Squadron Crew
Flight Lieutenant William John Canterbury (400037) (Second Pilot)
Sergeant Maxwell Burnett Dore (23699) (Fitter IIE) Injured, Discharged from the RAAF: 20 December 1945
Flying Officer Ronald Irvine Ferguson (402496) (Third Pilot)
Corporal Albert Leslie Fowler BEM (62546) (Armourer) Injured, Discharged from the RAAF: 18 September 1946
Flying Officer Gordon John Robert Hockey (411089) (Navigator)
Corporal William Richard George Lobb (61254) (Fitter IIE)
Flight Sergeant Bernard Victor McInerney (420585) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Flight Lieutenant Charles John Miles (405317) (Pilot)
Corporal Ronald Colin Smith (22211) (Fitter IIE) Injured, Discharged from the RAAF: 7 November 1945
Flying Officer Reginald Albert Weeks (420317) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Headquarters North Eastern Area Staff
Air Commodore Arthur Henry Cobby CBE GM (251334) Officer Commanding, North East Area, Injured, Discharged from the RAAF: 19 August 1946
Wing Commander Bruce Panton McFarlan OBE (260105) (Administrative and Special Duties) Injured, Discharged from the RAAF: 20 February 1945
Wing Commander Willem Lodewik Bosschart William Stephens (1175) (Medical Branch (Doctor)) Injured, Discharged from the RAAF: 9 January 1946
Squadron Leader John Vernon Angus (262693) (Administrative and Special Duties)
Squadron Leader Leo Matthew Hogan (281940) (Legal)
Flying Officer Charles Harry Ratcliffe (119559) (Administrative and Special Duties)
Other Passengers
Flight Lieutenant Frank Haighton Lord (252297) (Medical Branch (Doctor)) No. 6 Medical Receiving Station
Flight Lieutenant William Archie Wilkinson (3418) (Signals) No. 12 Signals Unit
Pilot Officer Beresford Frederick Shearman (423181) (Air Gunner) No. 43 Squadron
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, 147
Bibliography:
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Catalina, Neptune and Orion in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1991