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 |
Biography 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
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