LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Ian Hope CALLISTER
Service No: 408963
Born: Brighton VIC, 18 March 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 21 June 1941
Unit: No. 79 Squadron
Died: Aircraft Accident: (No. 79 Squadron Spitfire aircraft A58-177), Kiriwina, 5 November 1943, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Port Moresby (Bomana) War Cemetery PNG
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Cyril Percy and Katherine Hope Callister, of Kew, Victoria
Roll of Honour: Kew VIC
Remembered: Panel 104, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 11 November 1943, Spitfire A58-177 flown by Flight Sergeant Callister taxied out onto the southern strip at Kiriwina to take off as leader of a patrol. A58-177 collided with No. 76 Squadron Kittyhawk A29-356 piloted by Wing Commander Wilfred Stanley Arthur DSO DFC (565) (Discharged: 14 February 1946) from No. 78 Wing Headquarters. Flight Sergeant Callister was killed and Wing Commander Arthur severely burned. Wing Commander Arthur had received permission to take off from the northern end of the south Kiriwina strip. While Wing Commander Arthur taking up his position, A58-177 came out of the No. 79 Squadron Alert area onto the strip and the collision resulted in an explosion.
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, 166/7/238