LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant Arthur Douglas NELSON
Service No: 405874
Born: Bellingen NSW, 10 August 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 21 June 1941
Unit: No. 80 Squadron
Died: Prisoner of War (Executed) (from the loss of Kittyhawk aircraft A29-665 on 13 October 1944), Kai Islands, 8 November 1944, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Ambon War Cemetery, Indonesia
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Thomas George and Alma Elizabeth Nelson, of Lismore. New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Lismore NSW
Remembered: Panel 104, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Lismore Cenotaph, Lismore NSW
On 13 October 1944, Kittyhawk A29-665 flown by Flight Lieutenant Nelson was one of four aircraft detailed to carry out and watercraft and motor transport sweep of the Kai Islands. A29-665 was hit by anti-aircraft fire and it was ditched in the sea about 100 yards from the shore off Totoad Bight on Kai Island. When last seen the pilot was in his dinghy halfway between his aircraft and the shore. Searches later found no trace of the missing pilot. He was captured by the Japanese and was executed on 8 November 1944.
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, 166/29/157; A9845, 166
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line