LEST WE FORGET
Captain Stanley Albert KET
Service No: VX87771 (V31603) (Australian Army)
Born: Caulfield VIC, 15 May 1915
Enlisted in the Army: 23 July 1942
Unit: 35 Australian Air Liaison Section
Died: Aircraft Accident: (No. 16 Air Observation Post Auster aircraft), Tarakan, 3 May 1945, Aged 29 Years
Buried: Labuan War Cemetery, Malaysia
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William Ket and Gertrude Victoria Ket, of Ripponlea, Victoria, Australia. LL.B. (Melb.).
Roll of Honour: Ripponlea VIC
Remembered: Panel 10, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Four Auster aircraft of No. 16 Air Observation Post Flight were taken ashore soon after the initial landing to control artillery fire and carry out reconnaissance duties. A strip 220 yards long was prepared by army engineers for these aircraft (near the site of the Tarakan landing), but it was not suitable. Flying Officer James William Oswald McIntyre (422657) (Discharged: 5 November 1945) with Captain Ket as observer, attempted to take off on 2nd May, but the Auster crashed into an obstruction at the end of the runway and Ket died later from injuries then received, and McIntyre was injured and had to be evacuated. The Austers were then transferred to the Tarakan airfield and began operations there from 6th May.
Extract from Odgers, G.J. (George James) (VX127783) Air War Against Japan 1943-1945, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1957 – Page 458
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record B883, VX87771
Bibliography:
Baker, N. (Nicola) More Than Little Heroes: Australian Army Air Liaison Officers in WWII, Australian National University Canberra ACT 2600, 1994