LEST WE FORGET
Second Lieutenant Harold Ernest WHITEMAN
From Australia serving in the Royal Flying Corps
Service No: Not Assigned
Birth Registered: Guildford WA, 1895
Unit: No. 7 Reserve Squadron, Royal Flying Corps
Died: Aircraft Accident, Hampshire, 23 October 1916, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Bexhill Cemetery, Sussex
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Ernest and Annie Whiteman, of Janebrooke, Midland Junction, Western Australia. A Rhodes Scholar
Remembered: Commemorative Roll, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Second Lieutenant Whiteman is the 1915 Western Australian Rhodes Scholar.
On 23 October 1916, Lieutenant Whiteman was killed in the crash of Maurice Farman Shorthorn aircraft A949 near Shipton Bellinger (Parkhouse Military Camp), Hampshire. The evidence presented to the inquest was that it was his first solo trip. He had successfully come through his duel tests, and was quite a capable pilot. His aircraft was observed to be in difficulties and descended from a great height to within 150 feet of the ground, when it turned and nose-dived to earth.
References:
Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Guildford Grammar School Website
National Archives UK RAF Casualty Card 289068, 305406