LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Brian George SPARKMAN
Service No: 438404
Born: Caulfield VIC, 14 September 1925
Enlisted in the RAAF: 8 October 1943
Unit: No. 5 Operational Training Unit
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 5 Operational Training Unit Beaufighter aircraft A19-4), off Newcastle NSW, 8 November 1944, Aged 19 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Sydney and Lydia Lillian Sparkman, of Caulfield, Victoria
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 6, Sydney Memorial, Rookwood NSW
Remembered: Panel 113, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 7 November 1944, Beaufighter A19-4 was detailed to carry out a night cross country flying exercise. The route was Williamtown – Tamworth – Dubbo and return to Williamtown and the weather forecast scattered thunderstorms with the cloud base down to 1,000 feet. Four aircraft took off at approximately 2130 hours, and when at 2330 hours, the weather at Dubbo deteriorated, the aircraft were ordered to return to base. Three of the aircraft returned, and A19-4 was seen over Williamtown at 0040 hours on 8 November. A19-4 attempted a landing but overshot and climbed away. No further sightings were made of and nothing was heard from the aircraft which failed to return to base. A port inner tank of the aircraft was found washed up on the beach, and two bodies of the crew were found and it was presumed that the aircraft had crashed into the sea on 8 November 1944.
The crew members of A19-4 were:
Sergeant William Lawrence Mather (443344) (Navigator Wireless)
Warrant Officer Francis Edward Smallhorn (408882) (Pilot)
Sergeant Brian George Sparkman (438404) (Navigator Wireless)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/38/768; A9845, 11
Bibliography:
Parnell, N.M. (Neville M.) Whispering Death: A history of the RAAF’s Beaufighter Squadrons, AH & AW Reed, Terry Hills NSW, 1980
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Beaufort, Beaufighter and Mosquito in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1990