LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant John Alexander ROLFE
Service No: 432434
Born: North Sydney NSW, 25 October 1924
Enlisted in the RAAF: 18 December 1942
Unit: No. 2 Squadron, Hughes NT
Died: Air Operations: (No. 2 Squadron Mitchell aircraft A47-33), Tanimbar Island, 20 December 1944, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Ambon War Cemetery, Indonesia
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John Cosgrove Rolfe and Dorothy Mary Rolfe, of Manly, New South Wales, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Manly NSW
Remembered: Panel 98, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Manly ANZAC War memorial, Manly NSW
At 0730 hours on 20 December 1944, Mitchell A47-33 took off detailed to carry out a ship reconnaissance to the east coast of Jamdena Island, then around the Kai islands and return to Hughes. Nothing was heard from the aircraft which failed to return to base. In 1946 the wreck of the aircraft and the remains of the crew were located in Saumlaki.
The crew members of A47-33 were:
Flying Officer Leslie Thomas Forsyth (418377) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Warrant Officer Francis Herbert Mathews (418970) (Wireless Operator Air)
Flight Sergeant John Alexander Rolfe (432434) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Thomas Henry Rowlands (419918) (Wireless Operator Air)
Warrant Officer John Ernest Stuart Thompson (415921) (Second Pilot)
Flight Lieutenant William Frederick Elmo Thompson (406741) (Pilot)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia of Australia On-Line Record A9845, 2
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line
Bibliography:
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Boston, Mitchell and Liberator in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1992