LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer John Edward HILLER
Service No: 407550
Born: Glenelg SA, 11 June 1911
Enlisted in the RAAF: 9 November 1940
Unit: No. 100 Squadron (RAF), RAF Seletar, Singapore
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 100 Squadron Vilderbeest aircraft K6404), Malaya, 27 September 1941, Aged 30 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Charles Edward and Amanda Elizabeth Marie Hiller, of Glenelg, South Australia.
Roll of Honour: Adelaide SA
Remembered: Column 411, Singapore Memorial, Singapore
Remembered: Panel 124, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
Brother of Sergeant Geoffrey Edward Hiller (407075)
On 27 September 1941 at about 0830 hours Vickers Vilderbeest K6404 took off on a practice navigational flight. At about 1100 hours and at 4,000 feet the pilot ordered the air observer and WOAG to abandon the aircraft. The aircraft had gone into an inverted spin from which the pilot could not recover. The place of the accident was Rengit, Johore. The aircraft was subsequently located but it was not possible to ascertain if the crew members abandoned the aircraft.
The crew members of K6404 were:
Pilot Officer John Edward Hiller (407550) (Observer)
Pilot Officer Thomas Reginald Lamb (41692) (RAF) (Pilot) Survived
Sergeant Leslie John Wigglesworth (637848) (RAF) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/36/111