LEST WE FORGET
Warrant Officer John Joseph GREEN
Service No: 400951
Born: Malvern VIC, 30 July 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 11 November 1940
Unit: No. 36 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Prisoner of War (Presumed Drowned): (Tamahoko Maru, torpedoed by the submarine USS Tang), off Nagasaki Japan, 24 June 1944, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Frank Seymour Green and Ida Jane Green; husband of Rewa Betsy Green, of Brunswick, Victoria, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Glen Iris VIC
Remembered: Panel 443, Singapore Memorial, Singapore
Remembered: Panel 103, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Warrant Officer Green (Observer), Warrant Officer John William Holmes (Wireless Air Gunner) (400875) (PoW: Discharged: 30 April 1946) and Sergeant Ron Reid (Pilot) (RNZAF) formed the crew of a No. 36 Squadron (RAF) Vildebeest aircraft and became Prisoners of War on 8 March 1942.
On 24 June 1944, 14 RAAF members from various units were lost with the Tamahoko Maru:
Leading Aircraftman Neil Arlie Binnie (33659) (No. 1 Squadron)
Leading Aircraftman Ronald Edward Brown (17047) (No. 1 Squadron)
Aircraftman Class 1 Maxwell Henry Buchhorn (8594) (RAF Air Headquarters Far East)
Corporal Bruce Addison Gibbins (3353) (No. 1 Squadron)
Warrant Officer John Joseph Green (400951) (No. 36 Squadron (RAF))
Warrant Officer Dudley Reed Hooper (404280) (No. 84 Squadron (RAF))
Leading Aircraftman Robert Edmondson Joel (8814) (No. 1 Squadron)
Warrant Officer James William Landsberg (404759) (No. 1 Squadron)
Sergeant Harold Victor Lewis (406146) (Wireless Air Gunner) (No. 211 Squadron (RAF))
Corporal George Norman McKean (5651) (No. 1 Squadron)
Leading Aircraftman James Leslie Pittendrigh (15398) (No. 1 Squadron)
Aircraftman Class 1 Charles Dudley Potts (39872) (No. 8 Squadron)
Aircraftman Class 1 Ernest Frederick Stanford (27978) (No. 1 Squadron)
Warrant Officer Brian Aloysius Toohey (402758) (No. 100 Squadron (RAF))
In addition to the 14 members of the RAAF, two members of the RAN and 169 members of the Australian Army were lost.
Three RAAF members survived:
Leading Aircraftman Richard Bowie Downie (34225) Discharged from the RAAF: 8 February 1946
Warrant Officer James Dawson Barnes (405034) Discharged from the RAAF: 18 December 1945
Sergeant Frederick John Johnson (A3872) Discharged from the RAAF: 23 January 1965
In addition to the 3 members of the RAAF, eight members of the RAN and 71 members of the Australian Army survived.
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 A705, 163/118/225
Bibliography:
Hall, E.R. (Eldred Rayner) (O3341) Glory in Chaos, Sembawang Association West Coburg VIC, 1989
Wall, Donald (NX36620), Heroes at Sea, D Wall, Mona Vale NSW 2103, 1991