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Jack Ronald Coulter    b. July 7th1916 , Prospect , S.A.

In the  inaugural 1932 – 1933 season of the St. Vincent Life Saving Club (later renamed the Brighton Surf Life Saving Club), Jack Coulter was one of 6  young men to gain their Royal Life Saving Society Surf Bronze Medallion. The 5 others being Harold Phillpotts, Max Tite, Richard Weaver, Stan Paull and Ken Neall.

Jack was one of Brighton’s  early champion swimmers, winning state titles as a surf and belt swimmer and many medals as a pool swimmer for Unley Crystal Pool Club. He was selected to represent Brighton in the 1937 S.A. State Life Saving Team.

Jack enlisted with RAAF 3 Feb. 1941., Service No. 407891. He was one of 14 men and 1 woman who enlisted,  from a total of approximately  30 members of the Brighton Life Saving Club, at the outbreak of WW2.

Service Record:

3/2/41 Commenced training at No. 4 Initial Training School , Victor Harbor. S.A.

1/5/41 No. 1 Empire Flight Training School , Parafield. S.A., flying Tiger Moths.

29/6/41 No. 1 Service Flight Training School , Point Cook, Vic., Flying  Supermarine Walrus

31/10/41 Seaplane Training Flight , Rathmines, N.S.W., conversion to Catalina Flying Boats.

16/1/42 Attached to 20 Squadron, Port Moresby, New Guinea, flying Catalinas.

6/5/42 Posted as missing whilst engaged in operations against the enemy.

On May 6th, 1942, 2 Catalinas, A24-12 and A24-20 from 20 Squadron were given orders to take off together at first light from Port Moresby with full bomb loads and fuel to search the Louisiade Archipelago , a group of islands east of New Guinea, where a part of the Japanese Naval Fleet was known to be.

A24-20 crew comprised:

Sqn. Ldr. Godfrey Hemsworth ,Balgowlah, N.S.W. - Pilot
Sgt. Jack Coulter ,Black Forest, S.A.- 2nd Pilot.
Flg.Off. Leo Mclintock, Nth. Steyne, N.S.W. –Navigator,
Cpl. Colin Marsden ,  Merewether, N.S.W. – 1st Engineer,
LAC Ken Arnott, Mayfield, N.S.W. – 2nd Engineer
LAC Norman Banvill , Maryborough ,Qld. – 1stWireless Op.
Sgt. Jack Bandy , Mildura, Vic. – 2ndWireless Op.
LAC Eric Dorman, Rockdale , N.S.W. – Rigger
LAC Erwin Brown,Thirroul, N.S.W. - Armour

The crew were posted as missing whilst engaged in reconnaissance operations against the enemy on 6.5.42 flying for 20 Squadron RAAF in Catalina A24-20. This  was one of the very early operations in what became the “Battle of the Coral Sea”.

To date, the crew of Catalina A24-20 have no known graves.
Jack Coulter is commemorated in the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, the Bomana War Cemetery in Port Moresby and St. Georges Anglican Church on Goodwood Road, Goodwood in Adelaide.

On Jack Coulter’s service record, his home address is listed as 4 Habitant Avenue, Black Forest. In 1947, as a mark of respect, the Unley City Council renamed the street, Coulter Avenue, as it remains to this day.

COMMEMORATING THE 74TH ANNIVERSARY OF "THE 1942 BATTLE OF THE CORAL SEA."

Listed among the Hunter Valley men who paid the supreme sacrifice during the Second World War of 1939-1945 were the names of two RAAF airmen, Leading Aircraftman Kenneth John Arnott of Mayfield and Cpl Colin Marsden of Merewether. Both men were members of the RAAF's 20 Squadron and their date of death is recorded as 7 May 1942.

 
Back in 2013 our senior historian, David Dial OAM, advocated to have the crew of Catalina A24-20, which included LAC Arnott and Cpl Marsden as well as Catalina A24-18 which was listed as “officially presumed to have lost their lives with effect 4th May, 1942” in a Department of Air document dated 11 December 1946.

These two Catalina flying boats and their nine man crews were the only Australian casualties of the 1942 Battle of Coral Sea but no mention was made of this in a media release dated 4 May 1942 issued by the then Minister For Veterans' Affairs, the Hon. Warren Snowdon to mark the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Coral Sea, in which one paragraph said: “Fortunately, no Australian causalities were recorded and both HMAS Australia and HMAS Hobart made it safely home.”

On Thursday 2 May 2013 our senior historian David Dial in a media release titled "Historian calls for recognition of Coral Sea airmen" said:
Quote[Newcastle-based military historian David Dial OAM says it is regrettable that the crews of two RAAF Catalina flying boats shot down and captured by the Japanese during the 1942 Battle of The Coral Sea are not recognised or acknowledged as “casualties” of the decisive sea and air battle. “During the battle of the Coral Sea two Catalinas, the A24-18 and A24-20 were both shot down during air battles with enemy aircraft and crashed into the sea,” he said. “Catalina A24-18 took off from Port Moresby at 6 o’clock on the morning of 4 May 1942 to carry out a reconnaissance in the Solomon Islands area. At 12.17 a wireless message was received stating that the aircraft was being attacked by enemy fighters at a position about 40 kms south-west of Bougainville in the Solomons. No further messages were received and nothing more was heard of the aircraft or any of the crew of nine men.”

The crew of A24-18 were listed as “officially presumed to have lost their lives with effect 4th May, 1942” in a Department of Air document dated 11 December 1946. In June 1950 the decapitated bodies of all nine members were recovered and individually identified in the Japanese navy execution ground at Matupi Island near Rabaul and reinterred in the Bitapaka War Cemetery.

No evidence of the exact date of death could be obtained but it later appeared that the nine were executed approximately six months after their arrival at Rabaul. It had then been decided to cancel the official presumption of their death “on air operations on the 4th May 1942” and to reclassify them as having “Died while prisoner-of-war on or after the 4th November, 1942.”

The crew of Catalina A24-18 were:-
Flying Officer Allan Leslie Norman MID, Hawthorn, Victoria
Flying Officer Francis O’Connell Anderson, Cremorne, NSW
Flying Officer Frederick Arthur Donald Diercks, Mitcham, SA
Leading Aircraftsman Vernon Holloway Hardwick, Mandiga, WA
Leading Aircraftsman William Murdoch Parker, West Ryde
Leading Aircraftsman Ernest John McDonald, East Brunswick, Victoria
Leading Aircraftsman John Joseph Burns MID, East Preston, Victoria
Corporal Alfred Henry Lanagan, Old Burren, NSW
Corporal Alfred Ronald Hocking, Irymple, Victoria

“Catalina A24-20 took off from Port Moresby on a daylight reconnaissance flight and became missing in the Coral Sea on 6 May 1942 after sending a signal to the effect that it had sighted two enemy destroyers and was being attacked by enemy aircraft five kilometres south of Cape Ebola on Misima Island.”

“No further signals were received from the aircraft and no further news of the aircraft or crew was ever been received except from a captured Japanese diary that stated that an Allied flying boat crashed ahead of a Japanese convoy on 6 May 1942.”

“The Japanese destroyer “Yubari” picked up nine survivors who were brought on board the Japanese transport “Matsue Maru” on 7 May. The diary showed that the “Matsue Maru” returned to Rabaul on 9 May 1942.”

“None of the members of this crew were ever reported as prisoners of war and former Australian prisoners who were in Rabaul at or about the relevant time had no knowledge of the crew and heard nothing of the capture of any Australian air crew in May, 1942.”

“There being no report of the “Matsue Maru” ever being sunk by Allied action, it was thought that the crew of A24-20 may have been transferred to another Japanese ship and been lost on the sinking of that ship.”

“In view of the failure of all enquiries and of the absence of any evidence of their survival after 7 May 1942, it was considered that no members of this crew could still be alive and it was recommended that the crew of Catalina A24-20 be “officially presumed dead on or after the 7th May, 1942.”

The crew of Catalina A24-20 were:-
Squadron Leader Godfrey Ellard Hemsworth AFC, Double Bay, NSW
Flying Officer Leopold Guy McClintock, Harbord, NSW
Sergeant Jack Ronald Coulter, Black Forest, South Australia
Sergeant John Percy William Bandy, Mildura, Victoria
Corporal Colin Marsden, Merewether, NSW
Leading Aircraftsman Kenneth John Arnott, Mayfield, NSW
Leading Aircraftsman Norman Robert Banvill, Maryborough, Qld
Leading Aircraftsman Eric Dorman, Penrith, NSW
Leading Aircraftsman Erwin Bruce Brown, Darlinghurst, NSW]Unquote
Mr Dial also made representation to each of the Federal Members of the electorates throughout Australia in which the eighteen men lived at time of enlistment in the Second World War and it was only due to the efforts of now retired Member for Newcastle Ms Sharon Grierson who forwarded my communication to the then Parliamentary Secretary for Defence, the Hon David Feeney.
It should be mentioned here that two crewmen of Catalina A24-20, Cpl Colin Marsden from Merewether and LAC Kenneth John Arnott from Mayfield were residents in Ms Grierson's Newcastle electorate at time of enlistment.
And it should also be mentioned here that previous correspondence to me from the then outgoing Minister For Veterans' Affairs, the Hon Warren Snowdon, stated that there was no proof in my submission to have these men recognised.
On 5 September 2013 Mr Dial received an email from email from Tony Corcoran PSM, the Assistant Secretary, Freedom of Information and Information Management, which read:
Quote[Ms Grierson MP wrote on 1 August 2013 to the Parliamentary Secretary for Defence, the Hon David Feeney, concerning an inquiry from you requesting recognition of the aircrew of Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Catalina aircraft A24-18 and A24-20, as the only Australian casualties in the Battle of the Coral Sea. You pointed out what you believe to be an error in a media release on 4 May 2012 from the Minister for Veterans' Affairs, the Hon Warren Snowdon MP, which stated that there were no Australian casualties during the Battle of the Coral Sea. The Parliamentary Secretary has asked me to respond on his behalf.
The Department of Defence has compared your research to official RAAF records, and has reviewed the Minister for Veterans' Aflairs media release and the regulations applicable to the classification of casualties circa World War II.
There were nine Australian casualties during the Battle of the Coral Sea. All were aircrew on board RAAF Catalina A24-20, shot down by Japanese aircraft on 6 May 1942, while carrying out surveillance over elements of the Japanese fleet. While there are no official records (Australian or Japanese) detailing the exact fate of the crew, post-war interrogations of Japanese personnel and diaries found sufficient evidence to indicate that all nine crew members were recovered from the water by the Japanese Navy and were executed after being interrogated. All were killed on or after 7 May 1942 and it seems most likely that they died before 9 May 1942 while still on board ship. This would mean they were killed during the Battle of the Coral Sea and were within the immediate area of operations in which the battle took place.
The other nine RAAF personnel you wish to have recognised as casualties of the battle were all part of the crew of RAAF Catalina A24-18. All nine crew members were taken prisoner on 4 May 1942 after they had located elements of the Japanese fleet, which had entered the Coral Sea area of operations. All nine survived the Battle of the Coral Sea as prisoners of war and are known to have been executed by the Japanese on or after 4 November 1942. While initially thought to have been casualties of the battle itself; the post-war research into RAAF missing-in-action personnel found without doubt that the crew of A24-18 were not casualties of the battle, but prisoners of war.
The media release of 4 May 2012 did not acknowledge any RAAF involvement in the Battle of the Coral Sea. The statement ‘fortunately, no Australian casualties were recorded', while ambiguous, refers to the Royal Australian Navy involvement and does not purport to be the official position on Australian casualties. The Department of Veterans' Affairs' World War II Nominal Roll, which details all known Australian casualties, lists all nine crew members of A24-20 as having died during the Battle of the Coral Sea.
The official Air Force record, which establishes the nature and time of death for the crews of A24-18 and A24-20, are detailed and reflect the very specific legal processes applied to determining presumption of death for all Air Force missing-in-action personnel. The case for the presumption of death of all 18 Air Force members in this case, while hampered by a lack of specific evidence from 1942, provides a sufficiently clear basis for establishing the time and location of all 18 Air Force members' deaths.
The process for classifying an Air Force member as a 'casualty' and for establishing presumption of death is detailed in Air Force Order 27/A14 Rules to be Observed in Classifying Casualties. In the case of the crew members of A24-18 and A24-20, this process has been followed and, in the absence of any additional information contradicting the official presumption of death findings, there is no basis for changing any official casualty records. In the case of the crew of A24-20, this is in accord with your preferred outcome. However, in the case of the crew of A24-18, reclassifying them as casualties of the Battle of Coral Sea, as you have requested, would in fact require a significant legal process and Defence sees no grounds to warrant the reclassification of any component of the casualty status of the crew.
Your letter correctly states that the media release said, ‘fortunalely, no Australian casualties were recorded and both HMAS Australia and HMAS Hobart made it safely home. That is true but, as I have said, the Minister was referring to the crews of the ships. However, given the information about the fate of the crews of the two Catalinas, A24-18 and A24-20, the Department of Veterans' Affairs has stated that reference will be made to their fate and role in any future media releases relating to the Battle of the Coral Sea.]Unquote.
And finally, it was NOT Mr Dial's intention to have the dates of death of the crew of A24-18 altered from the official date recorded on the Australian War Memorial’s Roll of Honour as 4 November 1942.
He was merely advocating to have the A24-18 crew’s fate - shot down and captured – recognised and acknowledged as occurring in the Battle of the Coral Sea.
And after a drawn out, often frustrating and lengthy battle with bureaucrats Mr Dial had succeeded in this regard with an undertaking by the Department of Veterans' Affairs that reference will be made to the fate and role of Catalinas A24-18 and A24-20 in any future media releases relating to the Battle of the Coral Sea.
“Mission accomplished,” Mr Dial said.
End note:-
The crew of Catalina A24-18 (Buried Rabaul (Bita Paka) War Cemetery, Papua New Guinea):-
Flying Officer Allan Leslie Norman MID, Hawthorn, Victoria – 26 years old
Flying Officer Francis O’Connell Anderson, Cremorne, NSW – 25 years old
Flying Officer Frederick Arthur Donald Diercks, Mitcham, SA – 28 years old
Leading Aircraftsman Vernon Holloway Hardwick, Mandiga, WA – 21 years old
Leading Aircraftsman William Murdoch Parker, West Ryde, NSW – 19 years old
Leading Aircraftsman Ernest John McDonald, East Brunswick, Victoria – 22 years old
Leading Aircraftsman John Joseph Burns MID, East Preston, Victoria – 30 years old
Corporal Alfred Henry Lanagan, Old Burren, NSW – 28 years old
Corporal Alfred Ronald Hocking, Irymple, Victoria – 31 years old
The crew of Catalina A24-20 (No graves. Commemorated on Port Moresby Memorial, Papua New Guinea):-
Squadron Leader Godfrey Ellard Hemsworth AFC, Double Bay, NSW – 32 years old
Flying Officer Leopold Guy McClintock, Harbord, NSW – 24 years old
Sergeant Jack Ronald Coulter, Black Forest, South Australia – 25 years old
Sergeant John Percy William Bandy, Mildura, Victoria – 23 years old
Corporal Colin Marsden, Merewether, NSW – 22 years old
Leading Aircraftsman Kenneth John Arnott, Mayfield, NSW – 23 years old
Leading Aircraftsman Norman Robert Banvill, Maryborough, Qld – 20 years old
Leading Aircraftsman Eric Dorman, Penrith, NSW – 23 years old
Leading Aircraftsman Erwin Bruce Brown, Darlinghurst, NSW – 25 years old

Courtesty Hunter Valley Military History.