LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Alan Robert WEBSTER
Service No: 409630
Born: Wangaratta VIC, 11 January 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 12 September 1941
Unit: No. 30 Squadron
Died: Air Operations: (No. 30 Squadron Beaufighter aircraft A19-194), over Kamiri Bay PNG, 11 August 1944, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Lae War Cemetery PNG
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Edward Albert and Sarah Webster, of Wangaratta, Victoria
Roll of Honour: Wangaratta VIC
Remembered: Panel 102, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 11 August 1944, Beaufighter A19-194 was one of four aircraft detailed to carry out a barge sweep from Sernai Island to Babo. The formation was in two flights of two aircraft each. A19-183 (Flight Lieutenant Donald William Eisenhauer DFC (400464) (Discharged: 23 October 1945) took off from Kamiri airstrip, Noemfoor at 1300 hours followed by his No. 2 A19-194 (Flight Lieutenant Spence). These two aircraft were forced to alter course to circumnavigate a very heavy rain storm, but on approaching the mouth of Kamiri Bay, visibility improved and five barges were seen. While completing a strafing run A19-194 was hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire from Cape Smora, and a shell exploded near the Observers cockpit, and the Observer was killed. With the radio being unserviceable as a result of the explosion, Flight Lieutenant Spence who was uninjured was able to return to base and landed at 1545 hours.
The crew members of A19-194 were:
Flight Lieutenant Colin Everett Spence (407595) (Pilot) Uninjured, Discharged from the RAAF: 7 August 1945
Flying Officer Alan Robert Webster (409630) (Observer)
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, 166/43/799; A9845, 21
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