LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant Douglas Roy TAYLOR
Service No: 416465
Born: Port Lincoln SA, 13 January 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 23 June 1941
Unit: No. 31 Squadron, Morotai
Died: Air Operations (No. 31 Squadron Beaufighter aircraft A8-10), Tomohon, Celebes, 1 February 1945, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Ambon War Cemetery, Indonesia
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Horace Philip and Edith Erna Taylor, of Medindie, South Australia.
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 102, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
On the 1st February (1945), eight Beaufighters of No. 31 Squadron attacked a Japanese army personnel area at Tomohon (Sulawesi, Indonesia). This attack was carried out at about 12.40 p.m., the aircraft dropping depth-charges and 500-lb fragmentation clusters. The Japanese succeeded in shooting down a Beaufighter (A8-10) piloted by Flight Lieutenant Taylor with Flying Officer Packham as navigator. This aircraft was seen by the others to crash on a plateau about one mile south of the town and break up. Anti-aircraft fire was so fierce during the attack that the leader of the mission, Flight Lieutenant Provost (1), ordered the rest of the formation to rendezvous at a point some distance from the target from where course was set for base. Another Beaufighter (A8-32) in this attack was also lost. It was last seen heading over the target area but failed to return to base.
(1) Flight Lieutenant Ronald Ashton Provost (406060) was discharged from the RAAF on 1 July 1947
Odgers, G. (George) (VX127783) Air War Against Japan 1943-1945, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1957 – Page 394
The crew members of A8-10 were:
Flying Officer Keith Packham (436776) (Navigator) PoW: Died 31 March 1945
Flight Lieutenant Douglas Roy Taylor (416465) (Pilot)
The crew members of A8-32 were:
Sick Bay Attendant Alec Hill (F4084) (RAN) (Supernumerary) PoW: Executed 19 June 1945
Flight Sergeant Alan Edward Lewis (431362) (Navigator)
Pilot Officer William Roderick McGuigan (427717) (Pilot) PoW: Executed: 19 June 1945
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, 52
Bibliography:
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