LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Ross BIDEN
Service No: 402718
Born: Sydney NSW, 17 March 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 14 October 1940
Unit: No. 3 Squadron
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 3 Squadron Kittyhawk aircraft AL159), Egypt, 16 June 1942, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Halfaya Sollum War Cemetery, Egypt
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Norman Frederick and Hilda Biden, of Cremorne, New South Wales, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Mosman NSW
Remembered: Panel 98, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Honour Roll of Old Newingtonians, Stanmore NSW
On 16 June 1942, Kittyhawk AL159 was one of nine aircraft detailed to born enemy troop concentrations in the Sidi Resegh area. Shortly after take-off ALl59 developed engine trouble, and Pilot Officer Biden made an attempt to force land on Garbut main aerodrome, undershooting by a short distance. The undercarriage which was partly lowered collapsed, and the resulting belly landing exploded a bomb which the aircraft had been carrying and Pilot Officer Biden was killed.
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, 163/92/149
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line
Bibliography:
Winter, V.A. (Vincent Adams) (408547) Noble Six Hundred: the story of the Empire Air Training Scheme with special reference to Australians who trained in Southern Rhodesia, V.A. Winter Brighton VIC 3186, 1982