LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Edward James ROWAN
Service No: 407009
Born: Adelaide SA, 7 September 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 29 April 1940
Unit: No. 9 Squadron, Detachment HMAS Australia
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 9 Squadron Walrus aircraft L2327), off the New South Wales Coast, 19 February 1942, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Thomas David and Emily Rowan, of Ashford, South Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 5, Sydney Memorial, Rookwood NSW
Remembered: Panel 99, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
Remembered: Catalina Base Memorial, Rathmines NSW
Remembered: Rathmines Memorial Bowling Club, Rathmines NSW
On 19 February 1942 while operating at sea towards Fiji, Walrus L2327 landed too close to and struck the stern of HMAS Australia and caught fire, killing pilot Flying Officer Rowan.
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 A9300, ROWAN E J
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line
Bibliography:
Gillett, R. (Ross) Wings Across the Sea: the first ever complete history of naval aviation from the first world war to the present, Aerospace Publications, 1988