LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Keith Harry BEVAN
Service No: 35952
Born: North Sydney NSW, 10 September 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 10 April 1941
Unit: 528th Bomber Squadron (USAAF)
Died: Air Operations (528th Bomber Squadron Liberator aircraft 42-40967), Manokwari, Dutch New Guinea, 21 November 1943, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Harry George and Irene Muriel Bevan, of Artarmon, New South Wales
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 6, Lae Memorial PNG
Remembered: Panel 97, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Ku-ring-gai World War II Book of Remembrance, Gordon NSW
On 21 November 1943, Liberator 42-40967, nicknamed Black Widow, plummeted out of the sky over Manokwari Harbour after receiving a direct hit in the nose section from anti-aircraft fire and all the crew members were killed.
The crew members of 42-40967 were:
Second Lieutenant Kenneth R Adkins Jr (O-665659) (USAAF) (Bombardier)
First Lieutenant Maurice W Beller (O-665659) (USAAF) (Pilot)
Pilot Officer Keith Harry Bevan (35952) (Radar Counter Measures Operator)
Technical Sergeant Arnold W Churchek (18101710) (USAAF) (Flight Engineer)
Technical Sergeant Lincoln Johnson (R1226107) (USAAF) (Radio Operator)
Staff Sergeant Paul Nigrini (13089327) (USAAF) (Gunner)
Staff Sergeant Floyd E Rakow (17025984) (USAAF) (Gunner)
Staff Sergeant Ernest Rivera (12129457) (USAAF) (Gunner)
First Lieutenant Lee R Root (T000359) (USAAF) (Co-Pilot)
Staff Sergeant William M Thomas (6927493) (USAAF) (Gunner)
Second Lieutenant John W Trexler Jr (O-796627) (USAAF) (Navigator)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
Horton, G.R. Jr. (Glenn) The Best in the Southwest: The 380th Bombardment Group (H) in World War II Southwest Pacific Area, Mosie Publications, Savage Minnesota US, 1995
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/5/346
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line