FORD, Eric Valentine
| Service Number: | 255138 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 19 May 1941 |
| Last Rank: | Flight Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | No. 24 Squadron (RAAF) |
| Born: | London, England, 14 February 1911 |
| Home Town: | Mount Barker, Adelaide Hills, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Motor Engineer |
| Died: | Flying Battle, Netherlands East Indies, 6 April 1945, aged 34 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Northern Territory Memorial, Adelaide River, Northern Territory, Australia. Panel 6. |
| Memorials: | Adelaide River Northern Territory Memorial, Adelaide WW2 Wall of Remembrance, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Flight Lieutenant, 255138 | |
|---|---|---|
| 19 May 1941: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, No. 24 Squadron (RAAF) | |
| 19 May 1941: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Lieutenant, 255138 | |
| Date unknown: | Involvement |
Help us honour Eric Valentine Ford's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by David Barlow
RAAF Liberator aircraft A72-77 of Number 24 Squadron was shot down over Soemba Strait in the Netherlands East Indies with 11 crew on board. Two crewmen survived bailing out - Warrant Officer Vickers 401867 (discharged October 1945) & Flight Sergeant Sayer 30337 (discharged November 1945)
The survivors were picked up by Catalina flying boat A24-54 of 112 Air Sea Rescue Flight Darwin but that aircraft was subsequently destroyed by strafing from a Japanese fighter with the loss of crewman Sergeant Jones 34647. Another Catalina from 43SQN landed an hour later to pick up Vickers & Sayer and the surviving crew from A24-54 plus Warrant Officer Shilling 406816 from Liberator A72-81 which had been shot down on the same mission. After a running battle with Japanese fighters the second Catalina reached Darwin with no more fatalities.
All those killed in this action from Liberator A72-77 are commemorated on the Northern Territory Memorial to the Missing located at Adelaide River War Cemetery, NT -
Warrant Officer Alan Noel John Collins 424373 - Son of William Young Collins and Eva Collins of Crows Nest, NSW
Flight Lieutenant Lance Dixon Crowther 403560 - Son of Philip Dixon and Winifred Emily Crowther of Lindfield, NSW
Flight Sergeant Ian Faichnie 431408 - Son of Alexander Faulkner Faichnie and Florence Emily Faichnie of Ivanhoe, Victoria
Flight Lieutenant Valentine Ford 255138 - Son of Francis Charles and Louisa Ann Ford of Eden Hill, South Australia
Flying Officer Bernard Thomas Jordan 407825 - Son of Ernest Edward and Lydia Agnes Jordan & Husband of Kathleen Mona Jordan of Dulwich, South Australia
Flight Lieutenant William Laing 406568 - Son of William and Margaret Liddell Laing of Mosman Park, Western Australia
Flight Sergeant Leslie Raine 439612 - Son of Percy and Margaret Raine of Earlwood, NSW
Flight Sergeant John Munro Waddell 443444 - Son of John and Elsie May Waddell of Ryde, NSW
Flight Sergeant Keith Jowett White 433632 - Son of Frederick James White and Elsie May White of Bankstown, NSW
Click images to start slideshow.