LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Harry Maurice WHALING
Service No: NX18480 (Australian Army)
Born: Parkes NSW, 13 July 1900
Enlisted in the Army: 29 May 1940
Unit: 2/160 Supply Deport Platoon AASC
Died: Aircraft Accident: (No. 36 Squadron Dakota aircraft A65-34), New Guinea, 17 February 1945, Aged 44 Years
Buried: Lae War Cemetery, PNG
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Albert and Jane Anne Whaling; husband of Gladys Doris Whaling, of Hornsby, New South Wales
Roll of Honour: Wahroonga NSW
Remembered: Panel 85, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Ku-ring-gai World War 2 Book of Remembrance, Gordon NSW
During World War I, Sergeant Whaling served in the 4th Australian Infantry Battalion (Regimental Number 2465) and he was wounded in action. His enlistment attestation of 9 June 1915 gives his age as 22 years 11 months.
On 17 February 1945, Dakota A65-34 was engaged in a supply dropping mission to commandos in the Tadji area of New Guinea and crashed in the mountains in that area. On board the aircraft were:
Flight Sergeant Donald Gordon Campbell (418718) (Third Pilot) Died 17 February 1945
Private Edward John Collins (VX50622) (Australian Army) (Air Supplier) Died 17 February 1945
Corporal Arthur Edward Guy (142679) (Cypher Assistant acting Air Supplier) Died 17 February 1945
Corporal Keith Hardham (129265) (Acting Air Supplier) Died 18 February 1945
Private Joseph George Law (TX13582) (Australian Army) (Air Supplier) Seriously injured, Discharged from the Army: 11 October 1945
Squadron Leader Lewis Keith Jackson (261723) (Pilot) Seriously injured, Discharged from the RAAF: 22 May 1946
Flight Lieutenant Kenneth Robert Charles Mathews (Second Pilot) (407125) Died 20 February 1945
Sergeant Harry Maurice Whaling (NX18480) (Australian Army) (Air Supplier) Died 17 February 1945
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 B883, NX18480; A9845, 117
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line
Bibliography:
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Dakota, Hercules and Caribou in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1990