LEST WE FORGET

Lieutenant Colonel Alan BINNIE MC

Service No: NX12184 (Australian Army)
Born: West Hoxton NSW, 22 August 1895
Enlisted in the Army: 10 April 1940
Unit: Headquarters No. 2 Air Liaison Group
Awarded the Military Cross (MC)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 15 Squadron Beaufort aircraft A9-518), New Guinea, 25 March 1945, Aged 49 Years
Buried: Lae War Cemetery, PNG
CWGC Additional Information: No additional information
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 10, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Quirindi Town Clock and War Memorial, Quirindi NSW

Lieutenant Colonel Binney served during World War I in the Royal Flying Corps and was shot down and taken prisoner near Lens, France, on 14 April 1917 while serving with No. 60 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps.

Beaufort aircraft A9-518 went missing on operations from Madang over the Sepik area on 25 March 1945. Post War, the aircraft was found crashed in a mangrove swamp south of Mendam. The aircraft had exploded on impact and all five crew members had been killed.

The crew members of A9-518 were:

Lieutenant Colonel Alan Binnie (NX12184) (Australian Army) (HQ 2 Air Liaison Group)
Warrant Officer James Alexander Chapman (410544) (Observer)
Warrant Officer Ronald Eardley Douch (412499) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Keith Gillan (401749) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer William Walker Parker (415045) (Pilot)

References:

Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A9845, 260
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line

Bibliography:

Baker, N. (Nicola) More Than Little Heroes: Australian Army Air Liaison Officers in WWII, Australian National University Canberra ACT 2600, 1994
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Beaufort, Beaufighter and Mosquito in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1990

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