LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Roy Alexander WAGNER
Service No: 432458
Born: Albury NSW, 3 September 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 29 December 1942
Unit: No. 30 Squadron
Died: Aircraft Accident: (No. 30 Squadron Beaufighter aircraft A19-173), Tadji PNG, 23 July 1944, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Lae War Cemetery PNG
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Carl Otto and Berta Eva Wagner, of Croydon, New South Wales
Roll of Honour: Ashfield NSW
Remembered: Panel 102, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1000 hours on 23 July 1944, Beaufighter A19-173 together with five other aircraft took-off from Tadji detailed to strafe the Buna area. A19-173 swung during take-off, and it appeared that the Pilot decided the only way to overcome the swing was to become airborne. The aircraft struck the aerial of the duty tower, but in the manoeuvre of missing the tower itself, the aircraft stalled and crashed, bursting into flames on impact and both the crew members were killed.
The crew members of A19-173 were:
Pilot Officer Jack Hutcheson (418531) (Pilot)
Sergeant Roy Alexander Wagner (432458) (Navigator Wireless)
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, 166/43/782; A9845, 20
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