Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Malcolm Wallace Hamilton was born on 5th May 1917 at Brisbane QLD, the eldest of 2 sons born to his parents William and Kathleen Hamilton.  His younger brother was Alan.  Malcolm was educated at Brisbane Grammar School from 1929 to 1934 and enjoyed sailing, football and swimming.  He was a member of the school cadets in the artillery.  After completing his education he worked as a clerk for the public service in Brisbane.  He undertook law studies at the University of Queensland from 1936 to 1939.

Malcolm, aged 23, enlisted for WW2 in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) on 8th November 1940 at No. 3 Recruiting Centre in Brisbane.  He’s described as being 5ft 7ins tall with a fair complexion, blue eyes and brown hair.  His service number was 404726, his rank Aircraftman 2 (AC 2) and he was assigned to No. 2 Initial Training School (2ITS) at Bradfield Park NSW.  He proceeded there for training then was promoted to Leading Aircraftman (LAC) on 4th January 1941. 

In early January 1941 he proceeded to No. 6 Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) at Tamworth NSW then 2 months later he proceeded to No. 3 Service Flying Training School (SFTS) at Amberley Air Force Base in Brisbane.  It was here on 26th June 1941 that Malcom received his “Wings” otherwise known as Flying Badge.  The next day he was promoted to Sergeant.  In early July 1941 he proceeded to No. 3 Embarkation Depot (ED) at Sandgate QLD then 3 days later to No. 2 ED at Bradfield Park NSW.  He was attached to the Royal Air Force (RAF) and embarked from Sydney on 17th July 1941.  He disembarked at England UK on 2nd September 1941 and proceeded to No. 3 Personnel Reception Centre (PRC) at Bournemouth.  A week later he proceeded to No. 52 Operational Training Unit (OTU) at RAF Aston Down in Gloucestershire.  This unit trained fighter pilots in using Spitfires.  On 4th November 1941 after completing his training, Malcolm was assigned to No. 452 Squadron, the first Australian fighter squadron formed in the UK in WW2.  The unit was based at RAF Redhill in Surrey from late October 1941 to mid-January 1942 when it moved to RAF Kenley in the southern-most part of Greater London. 

On 9th March 1942, Malcolm in Spitfire VB AA849, was one of 12 piloted Spitfires from the Squadron to leave RAF Kenley at 2.25pm on an operation over France called “Circus 113”.  Their mission was to escort 6 Boston Bombers whose objective was to bomb the power house at Maringarbe France.  That was carried out and the Squadron were on their way back to base and crossing the coast of France when they were attacked by enemy fighters.  One of the Squadron pilots, P/O Elphick, saw Malcolm’s plane hit from behind and dive down into the water in an inverted position about 10 miles west of Cap Gris Nez on the coast of northern France.  Group Captain Victor Beamish, DSO DFC and RAF flying ace, turned back to give assistance to Malcolm but could not find any trace of him or the plane.  He saw a whitish oily patch in the area where Malcolm was last seen.  Malcolm was declared as “Missing” initially but his remains were not recovered so that changed to “Missing believed killed” then finally, he was declared “Presumed Dead 9.3.1942”.  He was 24 years of age.  The rest of the Squadron all returned safely to RAF Kenley by 4.15pm.

As an aside note…Group Captain Victor Beamish himself met the same fate off the coast of France near Calais just 19 days later.  He was 38. 

The irony of Malcolm’s death is that his Squadron was ordered to return to Australia to help in the defence of Darwin in the Northern Territory.  They withdrew from operations in Britain on 23rd March 1942, just 14 days after Malcolm was killed in action. 

A Memorial Scroll from the King was presented to the next of kin of all members of His Majesty’s Forces who died on active service during WW2.

Malcolm is one of the 20,000 Air Force personnel commemorated on the Runnymede Air Forces Memorial at Surrey UK.  It is dedicated to all Air Force personnel who were lost in WW2 and have no known grave.  His name is recorded on panel 112.  He is also commemorated on the Roll of Honour at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra ACT, the University of Queensland Roll of Honour 1939-1945, the Brisbane Grammar School WW2 Great Hall Honour Board and the Brisbane Grammar School Memorial Library Honour Roll. 

Malcolm Wallace Hamilton was awarded for service in WW2 the 1939-1945 Star, Air Crew Europe Star and the War Medal 1939-1945.    

Respectfully submitted by Sue Smith 6th September 2023.