LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant James Ogilvie Ross VICKERS
Service No: 66185
Born: Armidale NSW, 25 April 1924
Enlisted in the RAAF: 16 June 1942
Unit: No. 24 Squadron, Morotai
Died: Air Operations: (No. 24 Squadron Liberator aircraft A72-196), Borneo, 5 July 1945, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Labuan War Cemetery, Malaysia
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Walter James Vickers and Gladys Flora Vickers, of Lindfield, New South Wales, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 102, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Ku-ring-gai World War II Book of Remembrance, Gordon NSW
Squadron Leader Redman was the captain and he had a crew of ten RAAF airmen and also carried Captain Westgarth, an army observation officer. At 10 o’clock in the morning, while flying at a height of 200 feet two miles north of Sepinggang airfield (Balikpapan), No. 3 engine was seen to catch fire after being hit by light enemy anti-aircraft fire, and the aircraft then exploded in mid-air. None of the crew was seen to escape by parachute and a second aircraft directed to the scene of the crash saw the wreckage burning furiously on the ground. An army patrol got to within 150 yard s of the wreckage, but was unable to penetrate farther because of enemy resistance.
Extract from Odgers, G.J. (George James) (VX127783) Air War Against Japan 1943-1945, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1957 – Page 486
The crew members of A72-196 were:
Pilot Officer Martin Allan Burrows (12720) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant Ronald Michael Cornelius (436789) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Warrant Officer Harold Allan Gooding (418040) (Co-Pilot)
Squadron Leader John Robert Walter Redman (402395) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Leslie Rogers (449787) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Frederick Leslie Rollings (438085) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Harold Shadforth (449303) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Rex Victor Skinner (407185) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Flight Sergeant Patrick Fraser Stanley (430846) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Roy Tapper (434336) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant James Ogilvie Ross Vickers (66185) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Captain Brian Dudley Westgarth (NX204346) (Australian Army) (Support Air Observer)
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 A9845, 72
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line
Bibliography:
Baker, N. (Nicola) More Than Little Heroes: Australian Army Air Liaison Officers in WWII, Australian National University Canberra ACT 2600, 1994
Nelmes, M.V. (Michael) Tocumwal to Tarakan: Australians and the Consolidated B-24 Liberator, Banner Books Belconnen ACT 2616, 1994
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Boston, Mitchell and Liberator in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1992