LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer John Ashurst WARD
Service No: 407656
Born: Adelaide SA, 27 July 1917
Enlisted in the RAAF: 7 December 1940
Unit: No. 32 Squadron, Lowood QLD
Died: Air Operations (No. 32 Squadron Beaufort aircraft A9-642), off the Queensland Coast, 27 December 1944, Aged 27 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Samuel and Mary Ward, of Prospect, South Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 5, Sydney Memorial, Rookwood NSW
Remembered: Panel 103, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
Beaufort A9-642 went missing off the Queensland Coast to the north east of Brisbane at about 2120 hours on 27 December 1944 while on an anti-submarine patrol. The crew members of A9-642 were:
Flying Officer Allan Gordon Munro (411596) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Alan Richard Hammond Stone (412039) (Pilot)
Flying Officer John Ashurst Ward (407656) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Alfred Ashton Young (437028) (Navigator)
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 A705, 166/43/1053
Bibliography:
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Anson, Hudson and Sunderland in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1992