LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant Eric Robert STALEY MID
Service No: 401679
Born: Bristol, England, 14 August 1911
Enlisted in the RAAF: 28 March 1941 (at Melbourne VIC)
Unit: No. 4 Squadron
Awarded the Mentioned in Despatches (MID)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 4 Squadron Boomerang aircraft A46-134), Mt Kubari area PNG, 31 December 1943, Aged 32 Years
Buried: Lae War Cemetery PNG
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Robert Etherington and Clarinda Staley; husband of Rosa Fell Staley, of Natya, Victoria.
Roll of Honour: Swan Hill VIC
Remembered: Panel 98, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
During an artillery reconnaissance flight on 31 December 1943, Boomerang A46-134 crashed into the side of Mt Kubari and burst into flames. The aircraft was accompanied on the reconnaissance by A46-145 flown by Flying Officer Alexander Miller-Randle DFC (416170) (Discharged: 25 September 1945), who was acting as top cover. During the sortie A46-145 tried to contact A46-134 by radio but there was no response. A46-145 made a search and the pilot saw a fire burning fiercely on the side of a hill, circled the fire and presumed it was A46-134. He then returned to base. Flight Lieutenant Staley’s remains were recovered by a patrol of the 2/6th Cavalry Commando Squadron who buried him on the spot as there were enemy soldiers in the area and he was later reinterred.
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, 166/38/388