LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Ronald James HILL
Service No: 407768
Born: Edwardstown SA, 28 August 1916
Enlisted in the RAAF: 4 January 1941
Unit: No. 18 (Netherlands East Indies) Squadron, McDonald, NT
Died: Air Operations (No. 18 Squadron Mitchell aircraft N5-140), off Darwin NT, 5 April 1943, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Adelaide River War Cemetery, NT
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Harry Rogers Hill and Alice Jessie Hill, of Clarence Park, South Australia.
Roll of Honour: Glenelg SA
Remembered: Panel 101, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
On 5 April 1943, three B-25 Mitchell aircraft from No. 18 Squadron were tasked for an armed reconnaissance along the north coast of Timor. The aircraft were to take off independently and form off Darwin. N5-140 did not join the formation and was discovered almost submerged approximately 2 kms seawards of Nightcliff. The cause of the loss of N5-140 is unknown.
The crew members of N5-140 were:
Flight Sergeant Ronald James Hill (407768) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Major G Tijnens (93263) (NEIAF) (Pilot)
Sergeant K van Bremmen (23582) (NEIAF) (Second Pilot)
Sergeant Major F J van Wydick (90068) (NEIAF) (Wireless Operator)
Sergeant George Bryanton Weller (406968) (Wireless Air Gunner)
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, 24
Bibliography:
Hurst, D. (Doug) The Fourth Ally: The Dutch forces in Australia in WWII, Doug Hurst, Canberra, 2001