LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Malcolm BRADSHAW
Service No: 406749
Born: Boulder WA, 2 April 1914
Enlisted in the RAAF: 31 March 1941
Unit: No. 20 Squadron, Cairns QLD
Died: Air Operations: (No. 20 Squadron Catalina aircraft A24-22), off Gasmata New Britain, 8 March 1943, Aged 28 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of George William and Ethel Bradshaw; husband of Eunice Stella McInnes Bradshaw, of Brighton, Victoria.
Roll of Honour: Fremantle WA
Remembered: Panel 34, Rabaul Memorial, PNG
Remembered: Panel 101, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
Remembered: Catalina Base Memorial, Rathmines NSW
Remembered: Rathmines Memorial Bowling Club, Rathmines NSW
On 8 March 1943, Catalina A24-22 was reported to have caught fire over the Solomon Sea, thirty miles southeast of Gasmata, and subsequently failed to return to base. The crew was posted as missing.
The crew members of A24-22 were:
Leading Aircraftman Colin Neville Anderson (42147) (Armourer)
Flying Officer Malcolm Bradshaw (406749) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Wing Commander Francis Blomfield Chapman DFC (271349) (Pilot)
Flying Officer Stanley Alfred Deacon (255057) (Radar Operator)
Sergeant John Edward Dewhurst (5219) (Fitter II Engines)
Leading Aircraftman Robert George Docking (19968) (Fitter II Engines)
Flight Sergeant Lloyd George Stanley (404027) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Ronald Noblett Stephens (11363) (Second Pilot)
Flying Officer John Trevor David Todd (416087) (Navigator)
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, 145
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line