LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer John Thomas WALTON
Service No: 44248
Born: Toowoomba QLD, 11 November 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 14 January 1942
Unit: No. 1 Operational Training Unit
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 1 Operational Training Unit Beaufort aircraft A9-305), near Mount Gambier SA, 27 August 1945, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Mt Gambier General Cemetery SA
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Albert John and Ruby Walton, of Beerwah, Queensland
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 113, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 2 August 1945 Beaufort A9-305 was on a non-operational navigation training exercise TE18. At approximately 1923 hours the aircraft departed from Mt Gambier for East Sale to carry out the final leg of the exercise. At 1933 hours the aircraft crashed at an angle of about 60 degrees at Puralka about 18 miles east of Mt Gambier. All three crew members were killed.
The crew members of A9-305 were:
Flight Sergeant Brian John Eaton (431149) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Henry Neville Lord (438960) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Flying Officer John Thomas Walton (44248) (Pilot)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/43/1606; A9845, 252