LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant Benjamin Bernard NEWMAN
Service No: 405875
Born: Ayr QLD, 12 September 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 21 June 1941
Unit: No. 79 Squadron
Died: Air Operations: (No. 79 Squadron Spitfire aircraft A58-654), Halmaheras, 2 August 1945, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Ambon War Cemetery, Indonesia
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Benjamin and Helena Ivy Newman, of Ayr, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Ayr QLD
Remembered: Panel 104, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 2 August 1945, Flight Lieutenant Newman in Spitfire A58-654 was lost near the Teba River when his aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire and broke up. Japanese soldiers buried his body at the crash site and in 1948 his remains were reinterred.
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 A9845, 124; A9300, NEWMAN B B