LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Leith Chandler MUDGE
Service No: 416879
Born: Streaky Bay, SA 5 February 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 11 October 1941
Unit: No. 80 Squadron, Hollandia, Dutch New Guinea
Died: Air Operations (No. 80 Squadron Kittyhawk aircraft A29-536), near Wakde Island New Guinea, 21 May 1944, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Lae War Cemetery, PNG
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Roland James Mudge and Ellen Maude Mudge; husband of Doris Emma Mudge, of Streaky Bay, South Australia.
Roll of Honour: Streaky Bay SA
Remembered: Panel 104, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
On 21 May 1944, Flying Officer Mudge in Kittyhawk A29-536 was lost during strafing operations against enemy positions in the vicinity of Wakde Island, New Guinea. The section split into individual aircraft for the attack and Flying Officer Mudge did not rejoin the section when it reformed after the attack. The members of the section were:
Pilot Officer Leith Chandler Mudge (416879)
Flying Officer John Bradley O’Connor (408753) Discharged from the RAAF: 14 June 1945
Pilot Officer John Verney Reed (419833) Discharged from the RAAF: 15 June 1945
Flight Sergeant (later Flying Officer) Ronald Gordon Wallace (419595) Discharged from the RAAF: 14 November 1945
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, 161
Bibliography:
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Spitfire, Mustang and Kittyhawk in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1988