LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant Kenneth William PLOWMAN
Service No: 411824
Born: Vaucluse NSW, 22 May 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 25 May 1941
Unit: No. 30 Squadron
Died: Air Operations: (No. 30 Squadron Beaufighter aircraft A19-171), near Kamiri airstrip, 10 September 1944, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Leslie Godwin Tritton Plowman and Constance Smethurst Plowman, of Vaucluse, New South Wales
Roll of Honour: Vaucluse NSW
Remembered: Panel 6, Lae Memorial PNG
Remembered: Panel 102, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Australia’s Memorial Walk – Manly NSW
On 10 September 1944, Beaufighter A19-171 was one of eight aircraft detailed to bomb the Boela airstrip at Ceram. The formation took off from Kamiri airstrip at approximately 0710 hours with Flying Officer Graham Ronald Downing DFC (408540) (Discharged: 15 August 1945) as Leader. On returning from the mission and about 5 miles from base, engine trouble developed on the starboard motor of A19-171 and the aircraft rapidly lost height. The Pilot force ditched the aircraft and brought it down safely on the water. The Observer climbed to his seat and saw the Pilot standing on the port mainplane. The Pilot called, “dive its going”. The Observer dived and on surfacing saw the tail of A19-171 disappear below the surface, but there was no sign of the pilot and only the cap he had been wearing was seen floating. The accompanying aircraft circled the scene and a corvette picked up the Observer uninjured. A Mae west was sighted of the type worn by the pilot but no trace of Flight Lieutenant Plowman was found.
The crew members of A19-171 were:
Sergeant Kenneth Mason Bond (433291) (Observer) Uninjured, Discharged from the RAAF: 13 September 1945
Flight Lieutenant Kenneth William Plowman (411824) (Pilot)
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, 166/32/494; A9845, 20
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line