LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer William John WARD
Service No: 401003
Born: London, England, 15 February 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 7 December 1940 (at Melbourne VIC)
Unit: No. 75 Squadron
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 75 Squadron Kittyhawk aircraft A29-143), Turnbull Airfield PNG, 8 August 1943, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Port Moresby (Bomana) War Cemetery PNG
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John Langridge Ward and Maggie Ward, of Carnegie, Victoria. B.Com. (Melbourne)
Roll of Honour: Caulfield VIC
Remembered: Panel 104, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1102 hours on 8 August 1943, A29-143 took off from Turnbull Field, New Guinea, to carry out a non-operational test flight. After performing some aerobatics, the aircraft commenced an upward roll to the left at an altitude of about 1,000 feet. The aircraft stalled and commenced to spin. After half a turn of spin, the aircraft was brought under control, but almost immediately it then went into a vertical dive and crashed, killing Flying Officer Ward.
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, 166/43/28; A9845, 6