LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Horace William HALL
Service No: 414486
Born: Ipswich QLD, 4 November 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 11 October 1941
Unit: No. 22 Squadron
Died: Air Operations: (No. 22 Squadron Boston aircraft A28-14), Owen Stanley Ranges PNG, 9 February 1943, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William and Florence Ruth Hall, of Ipswich, Queensland
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 9 Port Moresby Memorial PNG
Remembered: Panel 101, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1250 hours on the 9 February 1943, Boston A28-14 took off from Wards Strip, Port Moresby, being one of five aircraft detailed to bomb and strafe buildings and the Mallehang sawmills, 3 miles north east of Lae, Papua New Guinea. On the way to the target the formation had to climb to 15,000 feet to peak cumulus clouds. On the return flight the formation climbed back to 17,000 feet, but had still not peaked the cloud. The Leader then decided the formation could not peak the tops of the clouds at approximately 25,000 feet, so he wheeled the formation about on to a reciprocal heading with a view to landing at an advanced Landing Ground on the other side of the Owen Stanley Range. A28-14 was in No. 5 position in the formation and it failed to stay in the formation, and entered the cumulus cloud and was not seen again. Exhaustive searches failed to locate the missing aircraft or crew members.
The crew members of A28-14 were:
Flight Sergeant Francis Colin Gordon (405047) (First Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Horace William Hall (414486) (Second Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Lesland Arthur Kenway (405590) (Pilot)
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 A705, 166/17/37