LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant David Harry PALMER
Service No: 429726
Born: Blackwood SA, 16 December 1914
Enlisted in the RAAF: 21 October 1942 (at Perth WA)
Unit: No. 33 Squadron
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 33 Squadron C47 aircraft A65-15), Milne Bay PNG, 7 June 1944, Aged 29 Years
Buried: Port Moresby (Bomana) Cemetery, PNG
CWGC Additional Information: Husband of Mrs. M. V. Palmer, of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 103, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
An explosion was reported 11 minutes after Dakota A65-15 took-off from Milne Bay enroute to Port Moresby. In poor visibility, the aircraft had crashed into the surrounding mountains and the four crew members on board were killed.
The crew members of A16-65 were:
Flight Lieutenant George Heads (400027) (Pilot)
Leading Aircraftman William James Martin O’Brien (67902) (Instrument Repairer flying as Wireless Operator)
Flight Sergeant David Harry Palmer (429726) (Second Pilot)
Flying Officer William Joseph Wilson (419451) (Navigator)
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, 116
Bibliography:
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Dakota, Hercules and Caribou in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1990