LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant John Albert CHELLEW
Service No: 433893
Born: Young NSW, 2 June 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 5 June 1943
Unit: No. 100 Squadron
Died: Air Operations (No. 100 Squadron Beaufort aircraft A9-622), 3 September 1945, Matapau PNG, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Lae War Cemetery PNG
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Arthur Roach Chellew and Lu Alicia Chellew, of Young, New South Wales
Roll of Honour: Young NSW
Remembered: Panel 104, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Young Uniting Church World War I and II Honour Rolls, Young NSW
Remembered: Young Soldiers Memorial Clock Tower and Memorial Boards, Young NSW
On 3 September 1945 Beaufort A9-622 was engaged from 1500 to 1600 hours on a leaflet drop at the Army request in the Sepik River area, New Guinea. When the aircraft failed to return to base, a search was made by 9 aircraft the next day but no trace of the missing aircraft or crew was found. Late that day a report was received from local residents that a plane had crashed into the hills in a heavy rain storm near the coastal village of Matapau, west of Wewak. The next day a search party from the Squadron found the wreck of the aircraft but there were no survivors.
The crew members of A9-622 were:
Flight Sergeant John Albert Chellew (433893) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Warrant Officer Cedric Ernest Hall (427321) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Flight Sergeant William Henry Halyard (439585) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Arthur William Orman (433001) (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 A705, 166/7/1159; A9845, 263
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line