LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Eric William BRAID
Service No: 414124
Born: Tenterfield NSW, 30 June 1917
Enlisted in the RAAF: 16 August 1941
Unit: No. 8 Squadron
Died: Air Operations (No. 8 Squadron Beaufort aircraft A9-256), New Britain area PNG, 23 September 1943, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William and Mabel Underwood Braid, of Tenterfield, New South Wales
Roll of Honour: Tenterfield NSW
Remembered: Panel 35, Rabaul Memorial, PNG
Remembered: Panel 99, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
A9-256 took off from Vivigani airfield at 0220 hours on 23 September 1943 to attack an airfield on Hoskins Peninsula, New Britain. The aircraft was last seen over the target area at about 0400 hours.
The crew members of A9-256 were:
Flight Sergeant Eric William Braid (414124) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Norman Cummings Fletcher (405475) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Keith Harold Gardiner (405476) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Frank Stanton Spooner (402682) (Pilot)
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
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A9845, 249