LEST WE FORGET

Flying Officer Edward Burford MORRIS-HADWELL MID

Service No: 1433
Born: Location, Date unavailable
Enlisted in the RAAF: Date unavailable
Unit: No. 30 Squadron
Awarded the Mentioned in Despatches (MID)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 30 Squadron Beaufighter aircraft A19-97), near Rabual, 17 October 1943, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Rabaul (Bita Paka) War Cemetery PNG
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Albert Edward and Rebecca Jane Morris-Hadwell, of Ballarat, Victoria
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 102, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT

On 17 October 1943, Beaufighter A19-97 was one of 12 aircraft which took off from Dobadura to strafe the Tobera airstrip at Rabaul, Papua New Guinea. All the aircraft of the formation was intercepted by some 20 enemy Zeros fighters when over the target. Intense anti-aircraft fire was also encountered. A19-97 was last seen approximately two miles east of Tobera airstrip making a climbing attack astern and below an enemy fighter which was attacking another aircraft in the formation. Following its attack, A19-97 continued to climb to 1,500 feet and the Observer of A 19-
142 lost sight of A19-97, and the aircraft was not seen again. A19-97 was the last aircraft in the formation to participate in the attack, but it failed to return to base.

The crew members of A19-97 were:

Flying Officer Edward Burford Morris-Hadwell MID (1433) (Navigator)
Flight Lieutenant Derrick Robert Stone MID (3406) (Pilot)

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, 166/28/163; A9845, 16

Bibliography:

Parnell, N.M. (Neville M.) Whispering Death: A history of the RAAF’s Beaufighter Squadrons, AH & AW Reed, Terry Hills NSW, 1980
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Beaufort, Beaufighter and Mosquito in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1990

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