LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Jack LAWS
Service No: 412979
Born: Paddington NSW, 30 August 1909
Enlisted in the RAAF: 15 August 1941
Unit: No. 2 Squadron, Milingimbi NT
Died: Aircraft Accident: (No. 2 Squadron Hudson aircraft A16-197), Rabuma Island, 20 April 1943, Aged 33 Years
Buried: Adelaide River War Cemetery, NT
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Frederick Joseph and Mabel Ethel Laws, of Coolah, New South Wales.
Roll of Honour: Coolah NSW
Remembered: Panel 98, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 0614 hours on 20 April 1943, soon after their two Hudsons set off from Milingimbi to bomb Timoeka in Dutch New Guinea, Flight Lieutenant Keith Daniel (A16-197) and Flying Officer Keith Mills (A16-183) collided over Rabuma Island. All members from both the crews were killed in the subsequent explosions and crashes.
The crew members of A16-197 were:
Pilot Officer Joseph Gipson Butler (408820) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Lieutenant Keith Edmund Daniel (402852) (Pilot)
Pilot Officer William Julius Henderson Gove (401636) (Navigator)
Flying Officer Jack Laws (412979) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Thomas William Wilson (408899) (Wireless Air Gunner)
The crew members of A16-183 were:
Pilot Officer John Loughnan Barnes (404946) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Pilot Officer Trevor William Bassan (411985) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Harold Herbert Keith Hadley (411904) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Noel Edward John (409551) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Keith Rosslyn Mills (405637) (Pilot)
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