LEST WE FORGET
Captain Thomas Fergusson GILL
Service No: SX4450 (Australian Army)
Born: Largs Bay SA, 18 August 1914
Enlisted in the Army: 20 June 1940
Unit: No. 1 Australian Air Liaison Section
Died: Air Operations: (No. 30 Squadron Beaufighter A19-132), New Britain, 10 September 1943, Aged 29 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Frank Stanley Gill and Ida Hamilton Gill, of Largs Bay, South Australia. Ass. Com., A.C.A. (Aust.)
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 1, Rabaul Memorial, PNG
Remembered: Panel 10, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
During and armed reconnaissance flight along the coast of New Britain on 9 September 1943, Beaufighter A19-132 was hit by anti-aircraft fire and was forced to ditched about 50 kms from the coast. Three occupants were seen to emerge from the aircraft which sank almost immediately, but no dinghy was seen to deploy. Dinghies were dropped an hour later and the three crew members were sighted twice on the following day. On the second day after the ditching, dinghies were observed washed up on the New Britain shore, but there was no sign of the three crew members. The crew members of A19-132 were:
Flying Officer William George Ronald Binnie (43192) (Navigator)
Captain Thomas Fergusson Gill (SX4550) Australian Army, Air Liaison Officer, No. 30 Squadron
Flying Officer John Robert Newman (404733) (Pilot)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A9845, 18; B883, SX4550
Bibliography:
Baker, N. (Nicola) More Than Little Heroes: Australian Army Air Liaison Officers in WWII, Australian National University Canberra ACT 2600, 1994
Parnell, N.M. (Neville M.) Whispering Death: A history of the RAAF’s Beaufighter Squadrons, AH & AW Reed Terry Hills NSW, 1980
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Beaufort, Beaufighter and Mosquito in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1990