LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant Warwick James TURNER
Service No: 403773
Born: Sydney NSW, 4 March 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 3 March 1941
Unit: No. 2 Operational Training Unit
Died: Aircraft accident (No. 2 Operational Training Unit Kittyhawk aircraft A29-423), near Coomealla NSW, 1 April 1945, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Mildura Public Cemetery, Victoria
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Alfred William and Elizabeth MacDuff Turner, of Strathfield, New South Wales
Roll of Honour: Sydney NSW
Remembered: Panel 113, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At the conclusion of a barge strafing on the Murray River on 1 April 1945 at the Yelta Barge strafing range, near Coomealla, Flight Lieutenant Turner in Kittyhawk A29-423 commenced to “beat up” the range control boat. On pulling out of a dive close to the water, the aircraft “squashed”, struck the surface, ballooned and disintegrated. The accident was attributed to disobedience of orders.
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, 166/40/580