LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Douglas William KEWISH
Service No: 401128
Born: Portsmouth, England, 3 November 1911
Enlisted in the RAAF: 3 January 1941 (at Melbourne VIC)
Unit: No. 84 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Prisoner of War (Ground Operations): Java, 1 March 1942, Aged 30 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William Henry and Ethel May Kewish; husband of Winifred Elizabeth Kewish, of Warmambool, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Column 421, Singapore Memorial, Singapore
Remembered: Panel 125, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Pilot Officer Kewish was a member of No. 84 Squadron RAF, who reached Java from the Middle East in February 1942. According to reports from repatriated prisoners of war he is believed to have been killed when the Japanese attacked the Kalidjati aerodrome on 1 March 1942. He was last seen in Kalidjati village about to proceed to Soebang to collect kits. As Japanese forces advanced down the road and reached Kalidjati, soon afterwards it is presumed that Kewish was killed by enemy forces between Kalidjati and Soebang, but his fate was never definitely established. Death was presumed with effect 1 March 1942. In a 1952 report it is stated that the Kalidjati area has been searched in the past without success and Pilot Officer Kewish was been classified as unlocated after search.
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, 166/22/356