LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant Edward Albert JONES
Service No: 270808
Born: Morningside QLD, 8 October 1914
Enlisted in the RAAF: 4 March 1940
Unit: No. 30 Squadron
Died: Air Operations: (No. 30 Squadron Beaufighter aircraft A19-49), off Lae PNG, 27 October 1942, Aged 28 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Albert Joshua and Lillian Alice Jones; husband of Clarice Ethel Blackwell Jones, of Morningside, Queensland
Roll of Honour: Brisbane QLD
Remembered: Panel 6, Lae Memorial PNG
Remembered: Panel 102, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 27 October 1942, Beaufighter A19-49 was one of a formation of aircraft detailed to proceed against the enemy at Lae, Papua New Guinea. Having engaged the enemy in its land position, the formation flew low over the sea to return to the attack. In doing so, it was seen that A19-49 apparently struck the sea surface, rose sharply and crashed into the sea in flames. The aircraft had one engine on fire, and was finally seen in a submerged state, its dinghy adrift, but with no sign of the crew.
The crew members of A19-49 were:
Flight Lieutenant Edward Albert Jones (270808) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Eric Raymond Richardson (22750) (Wireless Air Observer)
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, 163/139/74; A9845, 13
Bibliography:
Parnell, N.M. (Neville M.) Whispering Death: A history of the RAAF’s Beaufighter Squadrons, AH & AW Reed, Terry Hills NSW, 1980
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Beaufort, Beaufighter and Mosquito in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1990