LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer John Robert NEWMAN
Service No: 404733
Born: Ayr QLD, 1 June 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 8 November 1940
Unit: No. 30 Squadron, Vivigani, Goodenough Island
Died: Air Operations: (No. 30 Squadron Beaufighter A19-132), New Britain, 10 September 1943, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Benjamin Matthew Newman and Helena Ivy Newman, of Brisbane, Queensland
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 34, Rabaul Memorial, PNG
Remembered: Panel 102, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
During and armed reconnaissance flight along the coast of New Britain on 9 September 1943, Beaufighter A19-132 was hit by anti-aircraft fire and was forced to ditched about 50 kms from the coast. Three occupants were seen to emerge from the aircraft which sank almost immediately, but no dinghy was seen to deploy. Dinghies were dropped an hour later and the three crew members were sighted twice on the following day. On the second day after the ditching, dinghies were observed washed up on the New Britain shore, but there was no sign of the three crew members. The crew members of A19-132 were:
Flying Officer William George Ronald Binnie (43192) (Navigator)
Captain Thomas Fergusson Gill (SX4550) Australian Army, Air Liaison Officer, No. 30 Squadron
Flying Officer John Robert Newman (404733) (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, 18
Bibliography:
Baker, N. (Nicola) More Than Little Heroes: Australian Army Air Liaison Officers in WWII, Australian National University Canberra ACT 2600, 1994
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