LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Charles Lawrence MOTTERAM
Service No: 406401
Born: Claremont WA, 17 June 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 9 December 1940
Unit: No. 13 Squadron, Penfoei
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 13 Squadron Hudson aircraft A16-61), Timor, 14 February 1942, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Ambon War Cemetery, Indonesia
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John Henry and Hilda Eula Motteram, of Claremont, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Claremont WA
Remembered: Panel 100, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
Brother of Flying Officer Harry Lawrence Motteram (427533)
On the 14th a Hudson of No. 13 Squadron took off from Penfoei at dawn into a stormy sky and, while still near the aerodrome, crashed after being struck by lightning. The pilot, Flying Officer Mitchell, and all the crew were killed.
Extract from Gillison, D.N. (Douglas Napier) (254475) Royal Australian Air Force 1939-1942, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1962 – Page 420
The crew members of A16-61 were:
Pilot Officer John Nicol Goodfellow (407894) (Second Pilot)
Flying Officer Geoffrey Gordon Mitchell (664) (Pilot)
Sergeant Charles Lawrence Motteram (406401) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Neil Keith Rayner (407649) (Wireless Air Gunner)
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 A705, 163/145/194
Bibliography:
Grantham, S. R. (Sidney Richard) The 13 Squadron Story, S.R. Grantham, Dee Why NSW 2099, 1991
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Anson, Hudson and Sunderland in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1992