LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Ross Bryan O’LOGHLEN
Service No: 400662
Born: Melbourne VIC, 15 March 1914
Enlisted in the RAAF: 12 October 1940
Unit: No. 8 Squadron
Died: Prisoner of War (from the loss No. 8 Squadron Beaufort aircraft A9-262 on 4 December 1943), New Britain PNG, 14 January 1944, Aged 29 Years
Buried: Rabaul (Bita Paka) War Cemetery PNG
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Harry Ross O’Loghlen and Doris Irene Robertson O’Loghlen, husband of Phyllis May O’Loghlen, of Box Hill, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 99, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
A9-262 was one of six No. 8 Squadron Beaufort aircraft detailed to conduct a torpedo strike against enemy shipping in St George’s Channel off the north coast of New Britain. In poor weather, three of the aircraft including A9-262 made the target area but contact with A9-262 was lost at about 1936 hours while making an attack on enemy shipping.
The crew members of A9-262 were:
Flight Sergeant Ian Lerwick Mainland (408815) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Donald McDonald (401714) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Ross Bryan O’Loghlen (400662) (Navigator Bomb Aimer) PoW, Died 14 January 1944
Squadron Leader Noel Thomas Quinn DFC & Bar (622) (Pilot) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 16 February 1971
In August 1948, Flying Officer O’Loghlen’s remains and those of 13 other RAAF members were found at Matupi, New Britain. Those RAAF members were:
Flying Officer Francis O’Connell Anderson (403118) No. 11 Squadron
Warrant Officer John Pretty Bailey (4240) No. 8 Squadron
Sergeant David Stuart Brown (401489) No. 75 Squadron
Leading Aircraftman John Joseph Burns (19574) Headquarters RAAF Station Port Moresby
Flying Officer Frederick Arthur Donald Diercks (407708) No. 11 Squadron
Leading Aircraftman Vernon Holloway Hardwick (17635) (Wireless Operator)
Corporal Alfred Ronald Hocking (18005) Headquarters RAAF Station Port Moresby
Corporal Alfred Henry Lanagan (6853) No. 11 Squadron
Flying Officer Ross Bryan O’Loghlen (400662) No. 8 Squadron
Leading Aircraftman Ernest John McDonald (10253) No. 11 Squadron
Flying Officer Allan Leslie Norman MID (407006) No. 20 Squadron
Leading Aircraftman William Murdoch Parker (20343) No. 11 Squadron
Flight Lieutenant Godfrey Hubert Vincent (400866) (Pilot) No. 8 Squadron
Unidentified RAAF Member (possibly Flying Officer Charles William Vincent (404757))
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A9845, 250
Bibliography:
Eames, Jim The Searchers, University of Queensland Press, St Lucia QLD 4067, 1999 – Chapter 3: The Dance of the Rods