LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Keith Lawrence PATTEN
Service No: 440006
Born: Wyalong NSW, 14 May 1925
Enlisted in the RAAF: 28 August 1943
Unit: No. 24 Squadron
Died: Air Operations: (No. 24 Squadron Liberator aircraft A72-64), Balikpapan area, 2 July 1945, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Labuan War Cemetery, Malaysia
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Walter Frederick and Gladys Mary Patten, of Ardlethan, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Ardlethan NSW
Remembered: Panel 102, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Ardlethan World War II Roll of Honour, Ardlethan NSW
On 2 July 1945, Liberator A72-64 was detailed to carry out a bombing support operation against front line Japanese positions. The aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire and crashed behind enemy lines in the Balikpapan area at 1245 hours. No parachutes were seen from the aircraft and all were posted missing, believed killed. Several land parties failed to locate the crash site until an Auster Air Observation Post aircraft flew over the site. On the 1 August a reconnaissance party from the 33rd Battalion AIF led by Flying Officer Herbert. James Maudsley (34012) (O210409) (Discharged: 8 November 1945) and Flying Officer Donald Harold Cain (437492) (Discharged: 7 January 1946) recovered the remains of the crew.
The crew members of A72-64 were:
Flight Lieutenant Athol Martin Andrews (412351) (Second Pilot)
Flight Lieutenant Roy McDowall Beattie DFM (404228) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Leslie William Devereux (438586) (Air Gunner)
Warrant Officer II Frederick Balfe Emanuel (NX41956) (Army, Supernumerary) (FELO)
Flight Sergeant Dennis Geoffrey Featherstone (438726) (Air Gunner)
Flight Lieutenant Kelvin Elliott Harrison (409831) (Intelligence Officer)
Flying Officer Thomas Hockings (425936) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Flight Sergeant Arthur James Hogg (430751) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Keith Lawrence Patten (440006) (Air Gunner)
Corporal Ronald Walpole Buist Robinson (14526) (Fitter II Engines)
Flight Sergeant Leonard Robert Sapwell (116599) (Air Gunner)
Captain Howard Whitney Spry (VX14362) (Army, Supernumerary) (RAA 1st Australian Corps)
Flight Lieutenant Harry Stroud (403768) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Flight Lieutenant Douglas William Willett (404424) (Wireless Air Gunner)
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 A705, 166/32/824; A9845, 71
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line
Bibliography:
Nelmes, M.V. (Michael) Tocumwal to Tarakan: Australians and the Consolidated B-24 Liberator, Banner Books Belconnen ACT 2616, 1994
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Boston, Mitchell and Liberator in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1992