GADSDEN, John Geoffrey Norman
| Service Number: | 418828 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 19 June 1942 |
| Last Rank: | Flight Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | No. 2 Operational Training Unit Mildura |
| Born: | Toorak, Victoria, Australia, 28 April 1924 |
| Home Town: | Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Died: | Aircraft accident, Wentworth, New South Wales, Australia, 25 October 1944, aged 20 years |
| Cemetery: |
Mildura (Nichols Point) Public Cemetery, Victoria War Graves Plot C. Row B. Grave 16, Mildura Public Cemetery, Mildura, Victoria, Australia |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Pilot Officer, 418828 | |
|---|---|---|
| 19 Jun 1942: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Sergeant, No. 2 Operational Training Unit Mildura | |
| 19 Jun 1942: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Pilot Officer, 418828 |
TWO AIRMEN KILLED IN CRASH
TWO AIRMEN KILLED IN CRASH
Two airmen were killed while engaged in aerobatic flying near a Victorian RAAF training station last week, when the aircraft failed to recover from a vertical spin.
Those killed were: Pilot-Officer J. G. Gadsden, of Hopetoun rd, Toorak; Flight-Sgt C. J. O'connell, of Cowra, NSW.
Pilot-Officer John Geoffrey Norman Gadsden was the only son of Norman Gadsden, of 5 Hopetoun rd, Toorak, and a grandson of the late Mr T. Smith and Mrs Smith.
Aged 20, he was educated at Scotch College and Geelong Grammar School, and while at the latter passed the first air training course. Leaving school, he joined the RAAF, and on completion of is training was- posted as a fighter pilot to a RAAF Kittyhawk squadron, . with which he was in action in the South-West Pacific
area, during which time he took part in the famous air battle over Biak, when his squadron shot down eight enemy aircraft and damaged two, with the loss of one plane.
Having completed nine months operational service, he was recently posted to a station as an instructor.
The Argus Tuesday 31 October 1944 page 3
Submitted 19 October 2015 by Faithe Jones
Biography contributed by David Barlow
Son of Mr and Mrs N. Gadsden of Toorak, Victoria
RAAF Wirraway aircraft A20-613 of Number 2 Operational Training Unit crashed near Wentworth, NSW killing Pilot Officer John Geoffrey Norman Gadsden 418828 and Flight Sergeant Edward John O'Connell 423858
From adfserials: authorised to conduct aerobatics and spins as part of an exercise PLTOFF Gadsden failed to recover from a spin, which was observed from a second aircraft as to spin approximately two or three times. It is thought that the dual stick which had been in place in the aircraft had possibly jammed against the Observers seat. His observer, FSGT O'Connell had earlier that day been released from hospital after contracting Malaria but was cleared fit for flying duties.
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