LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Maurice ROANTREE
Service No: 422300
Born: Sydney NSW, 6 December 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 26 April 1942
Unit: No. 76 Squadron
Died: Air Operations: (No. 76 Squadron Kittyhawk aircraft A29-348), New Britain PNG, 23 September 1943, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Frank Hadfield Roantree and Leila Essie Roantree, of Cremorne, New South Wales
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 35, Rabaul Memorial, PNG
Remembered: Panel 104, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 23 September 1943, Kittyhawk A29-348 flown by Flight Sergeant Roantree was in a formation of 12 aircraft detailed to bomb Gasmata Island, Papua New Guinea. The mission was carried out without opposition although anti-aircraft fire was observed. On reforming, only 11 aircraft were accounted for and A29-348 was missing. The aircraft was not seen to crash or force land nor was the pilot seen to bale out. Flying Officer Terrence Desmond Madigan (407444) (Discharged: 11 September 1945) stated “Flight Sergeant Roantree was my No. 2. He was with me as I made my attack but I did not see him again.” It was later established that the aircraft had crashed into the sea close to Avio village, which is situated in Avio Bay. A report by a RAAF search party after the war stated: “three natives of Avio Bay were tried for murder by an Angau court in May 1946, and were sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for the murder of an unknown Australian airman. They admitted murdering an Australian airman who had swum ashore, but it could not be established if this airman was Flight Sergeant Roantree or someone else.”
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, 166/36/122; A9845, 10
Bibliography:
Eames, Jim The Searchers, University of Queensland Press, St Lucia QLD 4067, 1999 – Chapter 9: Something of a Numbers Game