LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant Kenneth George Campbell McCALLUM
Service No: 404655
Born: Rockhampton QLD, 15 September 1917
Enlisted in the RAAF: 11 October 1940
Unit: No. 205 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident: (No. 205 Squadron Catalina aircraft AJ160), Maldives, 1 February 1944, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of George McCallum, and of Ruby Violet McCallum, of Veronga, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Hughenden QLD
Remembered: Column 443, Singapore Memorial, Singapore
Remembered: Panel 126, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 22045Z hours on 1 February 1944 Catalina AJ160 crashed in a night take off at Kelai aerodrome. The aircraft was detailed to search for and rescue the crew of a torpedoed merchant vessel. Practically all the survivors from the torpedoed vessel were rescued by the Squadron. The weather was good on take and off the aircraft attained a height of 25 feet after passing the fourth flare and then crashed. The depth charges did not explode and the cause of the accident is not known. The aircraft finished lying in 50 feet of water with salvage not possible. A Squadron memorial service was held over the sunken aircraft. In 1949 the crew members were recorded as lost at sea.
The crew members of AJ160 were:
Flying Officer Fred Illingworth Allison (129052) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Charles Davies (1081692) (RAFVR) (Fitter 2E)
Flight Sergeant Percy Allen Eric Grant (1313736) (RAFVR) (Fitter Maintenance/Air Gunner)
Warrant Officer William Grier (976155) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Albert Sidney Jacobs (1383819) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Alec Samuel Jefferies (1384658) (RAFVR) (Second Pilot)
Sergeant Sydney Charles Linn (1483304) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Flight Lieutenant Kenneth George Campbell McCallum (404655) (Pilot)
Flying Officer Peter Walton Webb (50919) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Warrant Officer William Henry Westby DFM (524787) (RAF) (Flight Engineer)
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, 166/26/366
Bibliography:
RAAF Directorate of Public Relations, RAAF Saga, Australian War Memorial Canberra, 1944 – Chapter: Wide Horizons