LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Clifford Cavanagh TOTHILL
Service No: 429003
Born: Prospect SA, 6 August 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 22 October 1942 (at Sydney NSW)
Unit: No. 80 Squadron
Died: Air Operations: (No. 80 Squadron Kittyhawk aircraft A29-611), Halmaheras, 22 December 1944, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Ambon War Cemetery, Indonesia
CWGC Additional Information: Son of David James Tothill and Olive Tothill, of Prospect, South Australia
Roll of Honour: Prospect SA
Remembered: Panel 104, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Major-General Streett, in a determined effort to destroy enemy installations on Halmahera, directed his own and First T.A.F. squadrons to carry out a four-day blitz on them in the period 22nd-25th December. Cobby mustered a total of 384 Kittyhawk and 129 Beaufighter sorties in this operation, concentrating especially on the airfields and installations around Galela and Gurua Bay. On the first day the three squadrons of No. 81 Wing attacked Lolobata and Hatetabako . Each pilot had to be on the target at his allotted time and then get away immediately because there were so many aircraft coming in to attack the area. Several Kittyhawks were hit by anti-aircraft fire and one from No. 80 Squadron, piloted by Flight Sergeant Tothill, flicked during a strafing run, struck trees and crashed into the bay. Australian and American aircraft were over the target all day. A total of 285 sorties were completed during which 250 tons of demolition and incendiary bombs were dropped, together with napalm fire bombs and rockets in an area measuring not more than four square miles. In addition, Streett ‘s bombers and fighters meted out a terrific battering to all enemy staging areas in Celebes and Ceram.
Extract from Odgers, G. (George) Air War Against Japan 1943-1945, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1957 – Page 380
On 22 December 1944, Kittyhawk A29-611 flown by Flight Sergeant Tothill was one of four aircraft detailed to carry out the strafing and dive bombing of barge hideouts in George Bay, a small bay in Wasile Bay, Dutch East Indies. A29-611 was seen to crash upside down on the side of a hill and slide into the sea. It was not known whether the aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire or flicked on its back while Flight Sergeant Tothill was pulling out of a strafing run.
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, 166/40/316; A9845, 164
Bibliography:
Ilbery, P.L.T. (Peter Leslie Thomas) (422957) Hatching an Air Force: 2SFTS, 5SFTS, 1BFTS Uranquinty and Wagga Wagga, Banner Books Maryborough QLD 4650, 2002