LEST WE FORGET
Corporal Walter Alexander STRANG
Service No: 131729
Born: West Wallsend NSW, 5 August 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 9 March 1943
Unit: No. 20 Squadron, Darwin NT
Died: Ground Accident: (No. 20 Squadron Catalina aircraft A24-206), Darwin NT, 20 June 1945, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Adelaide River War Cemetery, NT
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Walter Robert and Minnie Strang, of Wallsend, New South Wales
Roll of Honour: Newcastle NSW
Remembered: Panel 101, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Catalina Base Memorial, Rathmines NSW
While in the aircraft lines on 20 June 1945, Depth Charges on Catalina 24-206 detonated destroying the aircraft and killing
Leading Aircraftman Richard Lewis Graham (123199)
Corporal Walter Alexander Strang (131729)
and injuring
Leading Aircraftman Donald William Hamilton (45902) Discharged from the RAAF: 10 June 1948
Leading Aircraftman Wilbur Stirling Lever (116354) Discharged from the RAAF: 2 December 1946
Leading Aircraftman Geoffrey Alan Mill (444360) Discharged from the RAAF: 15 May 1946
Sergeant Donald John Walton (56913) Discharged from the RAAF: 19 March 1946
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 On-Line Record A705, 166/38/1125
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line
Bibliography:
McFarlane, C.C. (Cyrus C.) Tojo’s Fate: Australia’s secret war, Sid Harta Publishers Glen Waverley VIC 3150, 2009
McMillan A. (Andrew) Catalina Dreaming: rescues exciting missions and other stories about the famous Australian flying boats of WWII, Duffy and Snellgrove Potts Point NSW, 2002
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Catalina, Neptune and Orion in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1991