LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Bernard James HUBBARD
Service No: 401037
Born: Hampton VIC, 23 April 1916
Enlisted in the RAAF: 8 December 1940
Unit: No. 32 Squadron, Camden, NSW
Died: Aircraft Accident: (No. 32 Squadron Hudson aircraft A16-173) Dapto NSW, 4 November 1942, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Cheltenham New General Cemetery, VIC
CWGC Additional Information: Son of David William and Mary Cathrine Hubbard, of Sandringham; husband of Iris Marcella Hubbard, of Bentleigh.
Roll of Honour: Hampton VIC
Remembered: Panel 103, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
No. 32 Squadron records indicate that it was not until 4th November that operations from Camden began, the Squadron sharing facilities with ‘B’ Flight of No. 73 Squadron equipped with Ansons. …
The first operation was flown in daylight, although in bad weather; two Hudsons were dispatched to search for an enemy submarine reportedly sighted by an outward-bound Norwegian vessel. The two aircraft, flying some ten miles apart, undertook a square search of the area, but found nothing. Both Hudsons then returned to land, but A16-173, flown by Sgt Norm “Nobby” Clark, a No. 13 Course Empire Air Training Scheme graduate, crashed near Wollongong and was totally destroyed. There were no survivors among the crew of four. It was a sad start to No. 32 Squadron’s Camden-based operations.
Extracts from Vincent, D. (David) The RAAF Hudson Story Book 1, D. Vincent Highbury SA 5089, 1989 – Page 205
The crew members of A16-173 were:
Sergeant Norman Baxter Clark (406712) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Bernard James Hubbard (401037) (Navigator)
Sergeant Joseph Hall Iredell (408580) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Geoffrey Alfred Rich (412187) (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, 137
Bibliography:
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Anson, Hudson and Sunderland in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1992