Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Eric William Sweetnam, known as William, Will or Bill, was the only son, and middle child, of Doctor Herbert William ‘Joe’ Sweetnam and Erica Sweetnam. Will grew up in the Hobart suburb of Sandy Bay and attended the nearby, all-boys school, Apsley House. In 1931, this school became part of the prestigious Hutchins School and at their 1934 Speech Night, Will was the recipient of a Special Prize for Algebra. He left Hutchins in 1936 to join Geelong Grammar School in Victoria.

The Sweetnam family activities, chiefly those of Will’s parents and sisters, Shirley (/explore/people/797189) and Roslyn, featured regularly in the social pages of Tasmanian newspapers. At the end of 1939, Will returned home to Hobart and found work as a clerk with A. G. Webster & Sons, an agricultural machinery import business.

In June 1940, just 18 years old, Will enrolled in the RAAF Reserve. Receiving his call up, William enlisted at the No 6 Recruiting Centre in Hobart, on the 10th October 1940, and arrived at No 1 Initial Training School (1ITS) in Somers Victoria, four days later. Will completed his specialist training at the No 1 Wireless Air Gunners School (1WAGS) in Ballarat Victoria, and the No 1 Bombing and Gunnery School (1BAGS) at Evans Head, in NSW. He graduated as a Wireless Air Gunner (WAG) on the 27th June 1941.

Embarking from Sydney in late August, Will arrived in Singapore on the 19th September 1941. Posted to the RAF 100 Squadron, Will’s first flight was recorded a week after his arrival. The squadron operated as a torpedo bomber squadron, flying obsolete Vickers Vildebeest aircraft. As the situation deteriorated in Malaysia and Singapore, many RAAF personnel were returned to Australia. Will ‘deplaned’ in Sydney on New Year’s Eve 1941.

Towards the end of February 1942, Will joined the newly commissioned RAAF 100 Torpedo Bomber Squadron based at Richmond in NSW. In May, the squadron relocated to Queensland and four months later, Will deployed to Milne Bay in Papua New Guinea. On completion of his tour, Will posted into the Base Torpedo Unit (/explore/units/1478) (BTU) in Nowra NSW, arriving on Sunday the 25th October 1942. Will was granted leave over both Christmas 1942 and Easter 1943. The additional travel time granted on both occasions, indicating he returned home to Hobart. In between times, Will was granted a commission to Pilot Officer.

On the evening of Tuesday the 13th April 1943, Will was assigned to the crew of Beaufort A9-27. This aircraft, piloted by Flying Officer Green, was to be the lead aircraft of Red Flight during the following days torpedo bombing demonstrations being conducted for visiting war correspondents and photographers.

As the program drew to a close, Red Flight was to finish with a low fly by off HMAS Burra-bra’s starboard before returning to base. Running over time, the ship had sailed past the original rendezvous point and as a result, the BTU Commanding Officer who was on board the ship, radioed the aircraft, instructing them to change their approach, and conclude with a Prince of Wales break up instead. A manoeuvre that hadn’t been practiced.

What transpired, was captured by Fox Films cameraman, Eric Bieve. The surviving 16 seconds of silent, black and white images show three Beaufort Bombers flying towards, then alongside the ship at 185 knots and just 50 feet above the water. As the flight commences the breakup, two of the planes clip each other and plummet into the bay, sinking in 100 feet of water. 

As Will’s next of kin, Joe received the telegram advising him of the mid-air collision and the death of his son. Divers successfully retrieved three bodies from the wreckage of A9-27 on the afternoon of the accident, however deteriorating weather conditions hampered their efforts to recover Will.

Pilot Officer Eric William Sweetnam was buried at the Nowra War Cemetery (/explore/cemeteries/3206) with Full Air Force Honours in grave B. A. 5 on Saturday the 17th April, 1943, a month short of his 21st birthday. He was laid to rest beside his fellow crew members, navigator Maurice Francis Hoban (/explore/people/632336), pilot Raymond Sydney Green (/explore/people/630215) and fellow WOAG, Albert John Bailey (/explore/people/618701). Their funerals having been held two days earlier. 

The crew of Beaufort A9-268, who had been flying in the number two position, were never recovered. A burial at sea service was conducted for, pilot David George Dey (/explore/people/511977), acting observer Jack Norman (/explore/people/510692) (WAOG), wireless operator Rex Lindsay Solomon (/explore/people/647917) and turret gunner Hugh Sydney George Richardson (/explore/people/644801), at 1030 Sunday the 18th April 1943 on Jervis Bay.

In December 1945, the Hutchins School magazine published a Memoriam listing 38 Hutchins Old Boys who had died as a result of their WW2 service. At the unveiling of the school’s Roll of Honour Board several years later, this number had increased to 51. Geelong Grammar School’s 1939-1945 Memorial entitled ‘Your Memory Hallowed In The Land You Loved’, identifies 71 former students lost during WW2. Eric William Sweetnam is listed on both memorials.

Principal Sources:
National Archives of Australia: 
NAA: A9300, SWEETNAM E W and NAA: A705, 32/22/220.

Hutchins Archives and Heritage Collection, The Hutchins School:
Digital Archive - http://apollo.hutchins.tas.edu.au/community/digital-heritage/.

Karen Standen 2016