LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Horace Milward WADE
Service No: 415201
Born: Perth WA, 9 January 1917
Enlisted in the RAAF: 21 July 1941
Unit: No. 6 Squadron, Goodenough Island, PNG
Died: Air Operations (No. 6 Squadron Beaufort aircraft A9-517), New Britain, 28 March 1944, Aged 27 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Frank Washington Wade and Amelia Evelyn Wade, of Coolup, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 32, Rabaul Memorial, PNG
Remembered: Panel 99, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
Flying Officer Horry Wade came in low to do some strafing and was shot down (in the vicinity of Jacquinot Bay New Britain). He carried with him Alex Nash, DFM, one of the most experienced wireless men in the squadron.
Extract from Graham, B. (Burton) and Frank Smyth, A Nation Grew Wings: The Story of the RAAF Beaufort Squadrons in New Guinea, Winterset House Publishers Melbourne VIC, 1946 – Page 105
A9-517 was engaged in low level strafing when it was last seen, and the report provided in the NAA record considers it unlikely that the aircraft was shot down as no anti-aircraft fire was observed by other aircraft engaged in the attack. This report considers it likely that the aircraft struck the sea during a low level turn in failing light.
The crew members of A9-517 were:
Sergeant Ronald Mark Fox (3470) (Photographer)
Flight Sergeant Clive Douglas Grant (417070) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer James Alexander Nash DFM (410368) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Frank Arthur Penaluna (416887) (Observer)
Flying Officer Horace Milward Wade (415201) (Pilot)
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, 260
Bibliography:
Eather, S. (Steve) Blue Lightning: the story of 6 Squadron 1917-2005, Australian Military History Publications Loftus NSW 2232, 2007
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Beaufort, Beaufighter and Mosquito in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1990