Date & Time:
May 4, 1942
Type of aircraft:
Consolidated PBY Catalina
Operator:
Registration:
A24-18
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Survey / Patrol / Reconnaissance
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Lake, Sea, Ocean, River
MSN:
350
YOM:
1941
Country:
Papua New Guinea
Region:
Oceania
Crew on board:
9
Crew fatalities:
0
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The crew was engaged in a maritime patrol mission between Tulagi and Shortland. En route, the seaplane was shot down by the pilot of a Japanese fighter and crashed into the sea. All nine occupants were rescued and became PoW. On November 4, 1942, all of them were executed.
Crew:
F/O Allan Leslie Norman, pilot,
F/O Frederick Arthur Donald Diercks, copilot,
P/O Francis O’Connell Anderson, navigator,
Cpl Alfred Harry Lanagan, flight engineer,
Cpl Alfred Roland Hocking, flight engineer,
LAC William Murdoch Parker, radio operator,
LAC Vernon Holloway Hardwick, assistant to radio operator,
LAC John Joseph Burns, rigger,
LAC Ernest John McDonald, armour.
Crew:
F/O Allan Leslie Norman, pilot,
F/O Frederick Arthur Donald Diercks, copilot,
P/O Francis O’Connell Anderson, navigator,
Cpl Alfred Harry Lanagan, flight engineer,
Cpl Alfred Roland Hocking, flight engineer,
LAC William Murdoch Parker, radio operator,
LAC Vernon Holloway Hardwick, assistant to radio operator,
LAC John Joseph Burns, rigger,
LAC Ernest John McDonald, armour.
Probable cause:
Shot down by a Japanese fighter.
