LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Bruce Robbie STEPHENS
Service No: 411670
Born: Southsea, England, 6 April 1912
Enlisted in the RAAF: 24 May 1941 (at Sydney NSW)
Unit: No. 30 Squadron
Died: Aircraft Accident: (No. 30 Squadron Beaufighter aircraft A19-14), near Wards Strip PNG, 15 January 1943, Aged 30 Years
Buried: Port Moresby (Bomana) War Cemetery PNG
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William Knighton Stephens and Isabelle Ellen Stephens
Roll of Honour: Sydney NSW
Remembered: Panel 102, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 0850 hours on 15 January 1943, Beaufighter A19-14 was one of three aircraft which took off from Wards strip at Port Moresby, detailed to carry out operations against at Salamaua, Papua New Guinea. A few minutes after take-off, A19-14 was seen to turn back towards Ward strip apparently for the purpose of landing because of engine trouble. As the aircraft approached the strip it turned steeply and after clearing some tree tops it crashed into the side of an adjacent hill and both the crew members were killed.
The crew members of A19-14 were:
Sergeant Stuart Francis Cameron (35931) (Wireless Air Observer)
Flying Officer Bruce Robbie Stephens (411670) (Pilot)
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, 166/38/18
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