LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Joseph Hall IREDELL
Service No: 408560
Born: Port Augusta SA, 21 March 1916
Enlisted in the RAAF: 27 April 1941 (at Melbourne VIC)
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: Hamilton Public Cemetery, VIC
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Joseph Hall Iredell and Muriel Maud Iredell; husband of Gladys D. Iredell, of Hamilton.
Roll of Honour: Hamilton VIC
Remembered: Panel 103, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
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