LEST WE FORGET
Warrant Officer Stewart Alfred HAMILTON
Service No: 418398
Born: East Malvern VIC, 8 December 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 22 May 1942
Unit: No. 178 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 178 Squadron Liberator aircraft EW106), Italy, 11 October 1944, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Padua War Cemetery, Italy
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Arthur James Hamilton and Jessie Hutchison Hamilton, of Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 123, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2131 hours on 10 October 1944 Liberator EW106 took off to attack the marshalling yards at Verona, Italy. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. Verona was a heavily defended target and it was considered that the aircraft may have been shot down in the target area. A Missing Research and Enquiry Team later reported “the aircraft crashed into the side of a mountain approximately 7 miles north of Verona on 10 October 1944. Verona is located in Northern Italy.” All the crew members had been killed.
The crew members of EW106 were:
Sergeant Robert William Ames (700947) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Stanley Ashmore (1812443) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Warrant Officer Stewart Alfred Hamilton (418398) (Second Pilot)
Sergeant Thomas Anthony Lawless (967730) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Noel Lindsay Morrison (128901) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Pilot Officer Leslie Charles Newman (159997) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant George Iorwerth Rees (1601916) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Reginald Albert Steel (1050090) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
CWGC records the date of death for all crew members as 11 October 1944 while the Missing Research and Enquiry Team report states 10 October 1944.
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/17/779