LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant John Lewis ROWE
Service No: 402207
Born: Cowra NSW, 22 June 1915
Enlisted in the RAAF: 24 June 1940
Unit: No. 79 Squadron
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 79 Squadron Spitfire aircraft A58-230), Coral Sea, 19 January 1944, Aged 28 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of George Lawrence Rowe and Mary Rowe; husband of Dorothea Eliza Rowe, of Lindfield, New South Wales
Roll of Honour: Cowra NSW
Remembered: Panel 9, Port Moresby Memorial, PNG
Remembered: Panel 104, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Ku-ring-gai World War II Book of Remembrance, Gordon NSW
On the 19 January 1944, Spitfire A58-230 was being ferried by Flight Lieutenant Rowe from Australia to No. 15 Aircraft Repair Depot, Port Moresby. The Spitfire was part of a group of aircraft being ferried consisting of six USAAF P47s and 1 USAAF P38 with a USAAF B25 as escort. Between Horn Island and Wards Strip in Port Moresby, A58-230 broke formation about 230 miles from Horn Island over Boot Reef, and the aircraft was not seen again. Searches were carried out for A58-230 and Flight lieutenant Rowe but were unsuccessful.
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/36/181
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line