LEST WE FORGET
Lieutenant Colonel Austin George FENTON MBE MID
Service No: NX484 (Australian Army)
Born: North Sydney NSW, 28 July 1905
Enlisted in the Army: 11 April 1940
Unit: HQ Military History Section
Awarded the Mentioned in Despatches (MID)
Awarded the Order of the British Empire – Member (Military) (MBE), 19 July 1945 (Citation Title: Army – Distinguished Service in the SW Pacific)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 7 Squadron Beaufort aircraft A9-660), Papua, 28 January 1945, Aged 39 Years
Buried: Port Moresby (Bomana) War Cemetery PNG
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Alfred Neal Fenton and Constance Una Fenton. husband of Dorothy Helen Fenton, of Beecroft, New South Wales
Roll of Honour: Sydney NSW
Remembered: Panel 10, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Beecroft War Memorial Cenotaph, Beecroft NSW
On 28 January 1945, Beaufort A9-660 went missing on a flight from Port Moresby to Tadji via Lae. The wreckage of the aircraft was subsequently discovered.
Crew
Wing Commander Nigel William Barker (260411) (Pilot)
Flying Officer Alfred Vincent Eric Bate (431161) (Navigator)
Flying Officer Colin Laidler Chisholm (431737) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Allan Dalglish (439416) (Second Pilot)
Flight Sergeant William Henry Pratt (434897) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Passengers
Sergeant Reginald Thomas Barter (60200) (Service Police, Port Moresby)
Lieutenant Colonel Austin George Fenton (NX484) Australian Army, HQ Military History Section
Flight Sergeant Trevor Neil Hay (56177) (No. 76 Squadron)
A9-660 was escorting No. 76 Squadron Kittyhawk aircraft A29-649 (Warrant Officer Raymond John Keyes (420571)) which also went missing but has not been found.
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, 264
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line