LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant Kenneth Noel DRUMMOND
Commanding Officer No. 155 Radar Station
Service No: 63089
Born: Sydney NSW, 27 November 1917
Enlisted in RAAF: 23 March 1942
Commanding Officer, No. 131 Radar Station, Ash Island NSW, June – December 1943
Commanding Officer, No. 155 Radar Station, Ash Island NSW then Exmouth Gulf WA, 20 December 1943 – 6 October 1944
Died: Illness, Broome WA, 6 October 1944 , Aged 26 Years
Buried: Geraldton War Cemetery WA
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William Robert and Eliza Winnifred Drummond; husband of Norma Constance Drummond, of Croydon Park, New South Wales. B.Ec. (Sydney).
Roll of Honour: Sydney NSW
Remembered: Panel 114, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Commonwealth Bank of Australia Honour Rolls, Sydney NSW
Flight Lieutenant K.N. Drummond, Commanding Officer, No.155 Radar Station, was not a well man and suffered from an appendix condition, which caused him a lot of pain and discomfort. He used to take paraffin oil for relief. Towards the end of September, 1944, Ken Drummond’s health became a matter of concern, and he was transported by Tiger Moth from the northern airstrip, to Learmonth. From here he was he was taken by a regular DC3 flight to the hospital in Broome.
Drummond was operated on for Appendicitis. The weather was hot and sultry~ there was no air-conditioning. The best the Hospital could provide was an office fan. Ken Drummond did not recover from this operation. His condition was such that he became delirious and died on 6th October, 1944. His body was then interred in the Broome War Cemetery and later reinterred at Geraldton
Extract from McNabb, E. N. S. (Eric) (29326) Potshot Profile 1942-6, E. N. McNabb, Yokine WA, 1995 – Page 44
References:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/10/318
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line
Bibliography:
Fenton, M. E. (Maurice Ernest) The Exmouth Radar Story: 310RS, 31RS, 161RS, 155RS, M.E. Fenton, Lockleys SA, 1994 – pp6, 10, 11, 15, 30
RAAF Historical Section, Units of the Royal Australian Air Force: A Concise History Volume 5 Radar Units, Australian Government Publishing Service, 1995 – No. 131 Radar Station, No. 151 Radar Station