11 October 2024
Chief of Air Force Air Marshal Stephen Chappell, along with dignitaries and family members, attended the memorial service and plaque unveiling for the eight fallen crewmembers of 100 Squadron Beauforts A9-186 and A9-374, at RAAF Base Point Cook, Victoria, this month.
The Directorate of Historical Unrecovered War Casualties – Air Force, part of History and Heritage – Air Force, conducted the service in the Holy Trinity Chapel eight decades after Beauforts A9-186 and A9-374 went missing in Papua New Guinea (PNG) in September 1943.
“As Chief of Air Force, I pay my deepest respects to these men who paid the ultimate sacrifice in their dedication to duty,” Air Marshal Chappell said during his commemorative address.
“They were school teachers, a fruit grower, a carpenter, a baker’s assistant, a builder, an automotive electrical trainee, and a farmer. Ordinary Australians performing an extraordinary duty, these young men paid the ultimate sacrifice while displaying great skill, courage and determination.
Their supreme devotion to duty are in keeping with the finest traditions of the service.”
The two aircraft had been discovered by an Ocean Ecology Pty Ltd dive team working for Dr Andrew Forrest from Fortescue Metals Group as part of an ongoing search for his uncle, Flying Officer David Forrest, who was lost during a mission to Gasmata in PNG while piloting a similar RAAF 100 Squadron Beaufort during the Second World War.
The wreckage of Beaufort A9-186 was found in 43 metres of water, 1.4 kilometres southwest of Gasmata airfield, in early 2020, and was positively identified following investigations undertaken in February 2022.
The wreckage of Beaufort A9-374 was found in 16 metres of water, 2.9 kilometres west of Gasmata airfield, in 2023, and was positively identified following investigations conducted in January 2024.
On the morning of 5 September 1943, 10 aircraft from 100 Squadron, including Beauforts A9-186 and A9-374, were employed on a mission to bomb Japanese-held Gasmata airfield.
The Japanese ground fire against the raid was heavy and accurate that day, with three of the 10 attacking aircraft shot down over the target and another lost upon its return to base.
Beauforts A9-186 and A9-374 were last seen on fire during their attack runs, and other crews involved in the raid believed both crashed into the sea near the target.
“In vain hope, their mates back at base waited for A9-186 and A9-374 to return – but they never did,” Squadron Leader Christopher Sell, acting Commanding Officer of 100 Squadron, said during the memorial service.
“Yet I know that the memory of these men endures. We consider the crews of Beauforts A9-186 and A9-374 to very much still be part of the RAAF today.”
The start of the memorial service was marked by the flypast of a historical Lockheed Hudson aircraft piloted by 100 Squadron.
