LEST WE FORGET
Squadron Leader Frederick George BIRCHALL
Service No: 252031
Born: 10 February 1901, Location unavailable
Enlisted in the RAAF: Date, Location unavailable
Unit: RAAF Headquarters, Melbourne VIC
Died: Ground Operations, Java, 17 April 1946, Aged 47 Years
Buried: Jakarta War Cemetery, Indonesia
CWGC Additional Information: Son of George and Harriet Birchall, of Hyde, Cheshire, England
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 97, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
In 1942, Squadron Leader Birchall had evaded capture by Japanese forces on Timor with a party of Australian servicemen during which time Corporal Roy Ernest Andrews (18533) and two other RAAF members died.
On the 17April 1946, Squadron Leader Birchall, (Administrative & Special Duties) was engaged in an investigation by the War Crimes Tribunal. He was one of a party proceeding by motor vehicle along a road near the village of Tjaningin, about 100 kms south of Jakarta, Java. The party was ambushed and Squadron Leader Birchall escaped from the vehicle, but his body was found a few days later by the Indonesian police. Others to lose their lives were Flight Lieutenant Hector Murdoch McDonald (120571) (A & SD) of RAAF Headquarters (North Western Area) and Captain Alistair Norman MacKenzie (VX74) (No. 3 Contact and Enquiry Unit, Australian Army). Indonesian sources said the atrocity had been committed by a band of marauders led by two Japanese deserters. Three Indonesian men and the two Japanese deserters were arrested and both deserters committed suicide in prison. The fate of the Indonesians is not recorded in the casualty file.
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, 163/24/243
RAAF Directorate of Public Relations, Victory Roll, Australian War Memorial Canberra, 1945 – Chapter: Return to Timor
Bibliography:
Eames, Jim The Searchers, University of Queensland Press, St Lucia QLD 4067, 1999 – Chapter 8: Caught in a Maelstrom