LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Mark Ernest SHELDON
Service No: 402256
Born: Granville NSW, 19 November 1914
Enlisted in the RAAF: 22 July 1940
Unit: No. 75 Squadron
Died: Air Operations: (No. 75 Squadron Kittyhawk aircraft A29-123), near Wani PNG, 11 August 1942, Aged 27 Years
Buried: Port Moresby (Bomana) War Cemetery PNG
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Ernest George and Elda Honor Sheldon; husband of Olive Jean Sheldon, of Haberfield, New South Wales
Roll of Honour: Eastwood NSW
Remembered: Panel 104, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At about 1150 hours on 11 August 1942, A29-123 flown by Flying Officer Sheldon took off with other aircraft from Nos. 75 and 76 Squadrons to intercept Zero type enemy aircraft approaching Fall River, New Guinea. A Kittyhawk was seen by Captain Davidson, Officer Commanding D Company, 61st Battalion AMF, to fly through cloud with a Zero on its tail, heading towards Bo village. The Kittyhawk was apparently hit and was losing height when last seen by Captain Davidson. Natives reported two Zeros attacked a Kittyhawk just before it crashed on a banana plantation near the top of Mount Beda Beda Wani in New Guinea, where a young boy found the wreck of A29-123 and the remains of Flying Officer Sheldon.
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, 163/56/132