LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant Douglas Grant VALLANCE
Service No: 401058
Born: Elsternwick VIC, 19 November 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 9 December 1940
Unit: No. 80 Squadron
Died: Aircraft Accident: (No. 80 Squadron Kittyhawk aircraft A29-1214), Borneo, 4 August 1945, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Crawford and Eva Vallance; husband of Susan Gray Vallance, of Williamstown, Victoria
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 32, Labuan Memorial, Malaysia
Remembered: Panel 104, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 4 August 1945, Kittyhawk A29-1214 flown by Flight Lieutenant Vallance was No. 3 in a formation of eight aircraft on a mission from Seppinggan to bomb and strafe Japanese concentrations near Balikpapen and return and refuel at Seppinggan and then return to Tarakan, Borneo. The flight was returning from the Seppinggan strip and flying at a height of 8,000 feet through a build-up of cumulus cloud to 18,000 feet with heavy rain below the cloud base. The aircraft were travelling through the weakest part of the frontal activity and on emerging from it the Leader noticed that Nos. 3 and 4 of the formation were missing. He called them up on the radio but no reply was received. Another flight of eight aircraft following were called up and told to look out for the missing two aircraft as they may have collided. A later search party reported that the propeller of A29-1214 had cut off the tail of A29-1145 and both aircraft had crashed and both pilots had been killed.
The pilots lost were:
Flight Sergeant John Kelvin Hoare (431566) Pilot A29-1145
Flight Lieutenant Douglas Grant Vallance (401058) Pilot A29-1214
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, 166/42/142; A9845, 172