LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant Alan Leslie Colin KERR
Service No: 405741
Born: Wondai QLD, 28 January 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 25 May 1941
Unit: No. 1 Squadron, Gould NT
Died: Air Operations: (No. 1 Squadron Beaufort aircraft A9-541, Koepang, 9 May 1944, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Hans Peter and Annie Agnes Kerr, of Proston, Queensland.
Roll of Honour: Wondai QLD
Remembered: Panel 6, Northern Territory Memorial, Adelaide River NT
Remembered: Panel 97, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 8th May No. 1 Squadron was ordered to attack the Japanese army barracks in Penfui. Six Beauforts took off on the mission but only three found their target and attacked. While over the target, anti-aircraft fire from the ground was bursting close to the Beauforts. Two machines, piloted by Squadron Leader Roxburgh (A9-541) and Flight Sergeant Wallace (A9-509), were evidently hit by this fire; both failed to return.
Extract from Odgers, G.J. (George James) (VX127783) Air War Against Japan 1943-1945, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1957 – Page 228
The crew members of A9-541 were:
Warrant Officer Ronald Keith Jamieson (405739) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Rowley Lomas (405229) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Flight Lieutenant Alan Leslie Colin Kerr (405741) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Squadron Leader Gilbert Bryce Dart Roxburgh (260656) (Pilot)
No. 1 Squadron lost Beaufort A9-509 (Flight Sergeant Terence Wallace (415703) (Pilot)) on 8 May 1944.
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, 257
Bibliography:
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Beaufort, Beaufighter and Mosquito in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1990