LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant Kenneth Robert Charles MATHEWS
Service No: 407125
Born: Lockleys SA, 26 August 1913
Enlisted in the RAAF: 22 June 1940
Unit: No. 36 Squadron
Died: Injuries from Aircraft Accident (loss of No. 36 Squadron Dakota aircraft A65-34 on 17 February 1945), New Guinea, 20 February 1945, Aged 31 Years
Buried: Lae War Cemetery, PNG
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Charles Christopher and Hilda Rose Crannoford Mathews; husband of Aileen Maud Mathews, of Cheltenham, South Australia
Roll of Honour: Adelaide SA
Remembered: Panel 103, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
The Confirmatory Memorandum of the Accident dated 28 February 1945 records Flight Lieutenant Mathews being buried at Aitape on 22 February 1945 making his likely date of death 20 February and not 20 May as shown on some records.
On 17 February 1945, Dakota A65-34 was engaged in a supply dropping mission to commandos in the Tadji area of New Guinea and crashed in the mountains in that area. On board the aircraft were:
Flight Sergeant Donald Gordon Campbell (418718) (Third Pilot) Died 17 February 1945
Private Edward John Collins (VX50622) (Australian Army) (Air Supplier) Died 17 February 1945
Corporal Arthur Edward Guy (142679) (Cypher Assistant acting Air Supplier) Died 17 February 1945
Corporal Keith Hardham (129265) (Acting Air Supplier) Died 18 February 1945
Private Joseph George Law (TX13582) (Australian Army) (Air Supplier) Seriously injured, Discharged from the Army: 11 October 1945
Squadron Leader Lewis Keith Jackson (261723) (Pilot) Seriously injured, Discharged from the RAAF: 22 May 1946
Flight Lieutenant Kenneth Robert Charles Mathews (Second Pilot) (407125) Died 20 February 1945
Sergeant Harry Maurice Whaling (NX18480) (Australian Army) (Air Supplier) Died 17 February 1945
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, 117
Bibliography:
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Dakota, Hercules and Caribou in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1990