LEST WE FORGET
Craftsman John Arthur BISHOP
Service No: NX83170 (Australian Army)
Born: Darkes Forest NSW, 27 March 1908
Enlisted in the Army: 10 January 1942
Unit: No. 13 Australian Advance Workshop Company
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 31 Squadron Beaufighter aircraft A8-166), off Morotai, 28 July 1945, Aged 37 Years
Buried: Ambon War Cemetery, Indonesia
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Walter and Mary Bishop; husband of Lillian Joan Bishop, of Sutherland, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Sutherland NSW
Remembered: Panel 90, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1145 hours on 28 July 1945, Beaufighter A8-166 crashed at Tagalaja Island, near Morotai and all on board were killed. The aircraft crashed while carrying out bombing and gunnery practice. It was believed that the cause of the crash was a high speed stall while recovering from a dive. In 1947 the wreck of the aircraft and remains of those killed were found.
The crew members of A8-166 were:
Craftsman John Arthur Bishop (NX83170) (Army) (Supernumerary)
Flight Sergeant George Ivor Hill-Jones (440569) (Navigator Wireless)
Flight Sergeant Clarence Gordon Ireland (433488) (Pilot)
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 B883, NX83170
Bibliography:
Parnell, N.M. (Neville M.) Whispering Death: A history of the RAAF’s Beaufighter Squadrons, AH & AW Reed, Terry Hills NSW, 1980
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Beaufort, Beaufighter and Mosquito in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1990