LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Geoffrey Edward HOCKING
Service No: 438807
Born: Ballarat VIC, 15 September 1925
Enlisted in the RAAF: 3 December 1943
Unit: No. 5 Operational Training Unit
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 5 Operational Training Unit Beaufighter aircraft A19-48), near Williamtown, 14 February 1945, Aged 19 Years
Buried: Newcastle (Sandgate) War Cemetery NSW
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Edward and Emily Myrtle Hocking, of Ballarat, Victoria
Roll of Honour: Ballarat VIC
Remembered: Panel 112, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: The Capt. Clarence Smith Jeffries (V.C.) and Pte. William Matthew Currey (V.C.) Memorial Wall, Sandgate NSW
On the 14 February 1945, Beaufighter A19-48 collided with Beaufighter A19-21 while engaged in a low level formation flight and crashed four miles east of the Williamtown aerodrome and the crew members were killed. A19-21 forced landed on Stockton Beach and the crew members were uninjured.
The crew members of A19-48 were:
Sergeant Geoffrey Edward Hocking (438807) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Keith Roy Sharp (430972) (Navigator Wireless)
The crew members of A19-21 were:
Flying Officer Alexander Stewart Burton (418340) (Pilot) Discharged from the RAAF: 8 February 1946
Pilot Ralph Walker Lyons (443503) (Navigator Wireless) Discharged from the RAAF: 10 January 1946
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, 166/18/629; A9845, 179; A9845, 13
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line