LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Murray Geoffrey SHORT
Service No: 47460
Born: Port August SA, 13 December 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 5 February 1942
Unit: No. 82 Squadron, Bofu, Japan
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 82 Squadron Mustang aircraft A68-770), off Cape Tsuru, 18 March 1946, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Yokohama War Cemetery, Japan
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Walter John Newman Short and Muriel Gertrude Short, of Port Augusta, South Australia
Roll of Honour: Glenunga SA
Remembered: Panel 104, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
Just after midday on 18 March 1946, Mosquito aircraft A52-147 and three Mustang aircraft – A68-718, A68-770 and A68-773 – were lost in bad weather in the vicinity of Cape Tsuru, Kyushu, Japan. The aircraft were on a ferry flight from Naha, Okinawa, to Bofu with the Mosquito providing the escort.
The crew members lost were:
Flying Officer John Gibson Allan (407213) Mustang A68-718
Flying Officer James William Nattrass (Pilot) (442477) Mosquito A52-147
Flying Officer Alan George Pilkington (406042) Mustang A68-773
Flight Lieutenant George William Saywell (Navigator) (414962) Mosquito A52-147
Flying Officer Murray Geoffrey Short (47460) Mustang A68-770
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 A705, 166/37/1336
Bibliography:
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Spitfire, Mustang and Kittyhawk in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1988