LEST WE FORGET
Leading Aircraftman Edward Francis PONTEY
Service No: 444034
Born: Berowra NSW, 17 December 1925
Enlisted in the RAAF: 1 January 1944
Unit: No. 8 Service Flying Training School, Bundaberg QLD
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 8 Service Flying Training School Anson aircraft DJ236), near Bundaberg, 8 December 1944, Aged 18 Years
Buried: Bundaberg General Cemetery QLD
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Lieutenant William Francis Pontey MM and Bessie Elizabeth Pontey, of Berowra, New South Wales
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 116, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1530 hours on 8 December 1944, Anson DJ236 crashed near Woodgate approximately 16 miles south east of Bundaberg and the crew members were killed. The accident occurred during a non-operational air to air camera gunnery exercise, when structural failure of the port main plane resulted in the aircraft diving vertically to the ground from 3,000 feet.
The crew members of DJ236 were:
Leading Aircraftman Edward Francis Pontey (444034) (Trainee Pilot)
Leading Aircraftman Ronald Norman Rose (444041) (Trainee 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, 166/33/263; A9845, 64