Australia’s War Diary

September 3/4-Britain. 316 Lancasters and four Mosquitoes raid Berlin, 22 are lost. 460 Squadron loses three crews: those of “C” Flight Commander, S/Ldr C Kelaher; F/O F Randall; and F/Sgt R McPhan. Randall, his Lancaster crippled, manages to reach Sweden before ordering bale-out. F/O C Gardner continues to Berlin although his Lancaster is badly damaged in a mid air collision. 467 Squadron loses two including that of newly appointed flight commander F/Lt R Carmichael. September 4 – New Guinea. Australian troops land east of Lae.

New Britain. Ten Beauforts of 100Squadron crater Gasmata’s runway at low level and start five fires. Hit by ack-ack, F/OT Allanson’s aircraft crashes in flames.

September 5-New Guinea. American paratroops land in the Markham Valley at Nadzab and are joined by the Australian 7th Division flown in from Tsili Tsili. 30 Squadron Beaufighters find 30 barges, four are left burning. Cape Gloucester airfield is also raided.

New Britain. Tragedy for ten Beauforts of 100 Squadron attacking Gasmata again. Three are lost, A9-367 (F/Lt R Woolacott and crew), A9-186 (F/Sgt R Grigg and crew) and A9-183 (F/O R Anderson and crew). A fourth struggles to Vivigani but crashes while landing.

Italy. 3 Squadron attacks transports around Vibo Valentia, Mileto and Givia Taura. W/O Percival’s Kittyhawk is crippled by AA fire and he crash lands just off a Sicilian beach. He is rescued but is mortally injured.

September 6-New Guinea. 30 Squadron raids Cape Gloucester airfield again. Beaufighter A19-133 (F/O Woodroffe & F/Sgt Brooks) crashes after being hit while strafing. September 7- Australia. 11 Squadron loses Catalina A24-52 (F/Lt Jack Miles) in Cleveland Bay at Townsville when it nosedives into a freak wave. Darwin Spitfires intercept a ‘Dinah’ with 30+ escort fighters. F/O W Hinds of 54 Squadron is KIA and both S/Ldr Ron McDonald and P/O Paul Tully of 452 Squadron bale out. A Tony is claimed destroyed. 457 Squadron attacks with a height advantage, shooting down four Zeros. F/Lts Watson and MacLean and F/OJ Smithson destroy one each while F/Sgt F White and F/O R Gregory share. New Guinea. No 24 Squadron, operating Vengeance divebombers from Tsili Tsili, begin operations at Finschafen and Lae. Its first operation, to attack a bridge on the Bogadjim road, is aborted because of bad weather.

September 8-New Guinea. 24 Squadron successfully bombs the Bogadjim bridge, yesterday’s aborted mission. The Australians are engaged by both American warships and fighters to and from the target, which is disturbing considering they are flying American aircraft.

Italy surrenders.

September 9-Italy. Allied landings at Salerno and Taranto. New Guinea. Cape Kombies radar detects enemy aircraft approaching Merauke. The enemy force comprised 16 Bettys escorted by 16 fighters. Fourteen Kittyhawks of 86 Squadron, led by S/Ldr J Meehan, scramble followed by four Boomerangs of 84 Squadron led by F/Lt K Brown. The Boomerangs do not reach the enemy but Kittyhawk pilots F/Lt C Stark and F/O A Tucker both destroy a Zero while F/O H Stuart claims an Oscar. Bombs destroy a Boomerang in its dispersal bay. New Britain. Two Beaufighters of 30 Squadron, each carrying an Army officer, are sent to check Japanese progress building a road from Cape Archway to Gasmata. A19-132, F/O J Newman and F/O W Binnie, has Capt T Gill aboard. Hit by ground fire, Newman ditches off Palmalmal Plantation and they escape by dinghy.

September 10 – Mediterranean. A crew of 458 Squadron which had ditched on the 7th is picked up by the surrendering Italian Fleet en route to Malta. The Italian battleship Roma is sunk by a glider bomber launched from a German aircraft. Other ships are damaged. Fighting around Rome between Italian and German troops obliged the Italian Government to leave the city. The Germans take over.

Sardinia. The Germans evacuate their garrison, moving first to Corsica and then Italy.

New Guinea. The 7th Division at Nadzab begins advancing on Lae. The dinghy containing Newman, Binnie and Gill, is sighted and a second dinghy dropped. When last seen at dusk, they are 40km from Cape Beech drifting northwards. September 11- Italy. At Salerno, there are major German air attacks on the landings throughout the day despite the efforts of the Allied air forces. The cruiser Savannah is badly damaged by a glider bomb.

New Guinea. As the Japanese at Salamaua withdraw, the Australians take the airfield and enter the town. Two empty dinghies which had carried Newman, Binnie and Gill are found beached. They are presumed alive but in enemy territory but will never be found. Seagull amphibian, A2-19, of 1 Rescue and Communication Flight, captained by F/O R Bonython and carrying F/O R Kelley of 30 Squadron as navigator, fails to return from the search. September 12 – Italy. Major German counter attacks at Salerno. Mussolini is rescued from Gran Sasso in the Abruzzi Mountains by German parachute commandoes led by Otto Skorzeny and taken to Germany.

New Guinea. The Australians take Salamaua. New Britain. Four Bostons of 22 Squadron bomb Gasmata. F/Lt H Dawkins’ aircraft is hit and force lands at sea. The crew scramble into a dinghy but are lost. Another Boston piloted by P/O E Riley also fails to return.

September 14-Italy. Aircraft and key ground personnel of 3 Squadron fly over from Sicily and within an hour of touching down are pressed into ground support operations around the Salerno. Kittyhawks led by S/Ldr Eaton, ravage German transport on roads leading down to the beaches Britain. 455 Squadron’s F/O W Austin (on his last operational flight) and crew are lost when their Hampden is shot down by Norwegian shore batteries.

New Guinea. The 7th Division, pushing from Nadzab, reaches the outskirts of Lae. September 15 – Australia. At RAAF Richmond NSW, 38 (Transport) Squadron, is formed with Hudson IVs for general freight, passenger and VIP transport duties. September 16-Bay of Biscay. F/Lt Dudley Marrows and crew of 461 Squadron in Sunderland BK578/2-C battle six Ju 88s for an hour, damaging them all, before having to ditch the crippled flying boat. They all escape in dinghies. A Leigh Light Catalina finds them early next morning and they are rescued by a destroyer. Marrows receives a DSO and two gunners, Sgts F Bamber (wounded) and A Pearce, DFMs. New Guinea. Lae is taken by the 9th and 7th Divisions. Many escaping Japanese head for the north coast of the Huon Peninsula.

Australia. The new CO of 31 Squadron W/Cdr F Mann leads six Beaufighters to attack Taberfane. One Pete is destroyed. Mann’s aircraft, A19-70, has to force land in a swamp 60km east of Millingimbi. Two others force land out of fuel. Meanwhile, using bomb racks acquired from 18 Squadron’s Mitchells, armourers modify four Beaufighters to carry bombs beneath the fuselage.

September 17-Italy. While attacking a satellite aerodrome at Foggia, F/Sgt Collier is chased by German fighters and forced to crash land on a beach. He is unhurt and will spend the next few days evading behind enemy lines before returning to 3 Squadron. 450 Squadron moves across from Sicily. September 18-New Guinea. 24 Squadron Vengeances dive bomb and strafe targets around Finschafen with outstanding success.

September 19-New Guinea. W/Cdr Glasscock and P/O Cain are killed when Beaufighter A19-133 of 30 Squadron is shot down while strafing barges and dumps near Cape Hoskins airfield.

Italy. While strafing, F/Sgt H Rushton RCAF of 45 Squadron crashes. His Kittyhawk bursts into flames. He is hidden from the Germans by local villagers until a Canadian infantry patrol recovers him.

September 20 – New Guinea. To exploit the speedy Australian success at Lae, MacArthur now approves the 9th Division landing at Finschhafen on the 22nd. AÑo 7 Squadron Beaufort captained by F/O J Legge, attacks a Jake floatplane while on patrol west of Cape Valsch. The Jake is forced to alight on the water and is destroyed.

September 21 – Bay of Biscay. Sunderland DV969/E of 10 Squadron, captained by F/O Glenn “Pop” Jennison, fails to return, apparently the victim of six Ju 88s. Four 456 Squadron Mosquitoes engage eight Ju 88s. S/Ldr Gordon Panitz & F/Sgt CS Samson (observer), destroy one while W/O G F Gatenby is credited with a probable.

Italy. 450 Squadron attacks shipping in Manfredonia Harbour. One is left burning, the docks receives several hits and many fires are started.

New Britain. While American squadrons attack Wewak and the Cape Gloucester airfield across from Finschhafen, the RAAF concentrates on Cape Hoskins and Gasmata. No 6 Squadron has its first action as a Beaufort unit. F/O Lorimer attacks a 650 tonne vessel off the coast. Later, FVO Barr strafes two cargo vessels in Buka Passage. 24 Squadron attacks the Japanese radio location station on Kaial and Wonam off the coast from Finschafen and obliterates it. F/O Jack Murray’s Vengeance is damaged by his own bomb fragments. Three Bostons and 10 Beauforts, five from the newly arrived No 8 (Torpedo) Squadron led by W/Cdr G Nicoll, bomb Gasmata. One Boston strafes a Japanese submarine loaded with supplies south of Gasmata before it can crash dive. September 22 – Britain. F/Lt Don Smith of 453 (Spitfire) Squadron destroys a Fw 190, the only kill this month. Italy. 450 Squadron Kittyhawks sink a large vessel in Manfredonia Harbour.

New Guinea. The 9th Division lands north of Finschhafen. Six hours later the Japanese mount a huge air attack which is beaten off by 90 American fighters. Meanwhile, led by W/Cdr “Wolf” Arthur, 76 Squadron Kittyhawks dive bomb Gasmata. September 22/23 – Britain. Bomber Command sends 711 aircraft on the first in a series of four heavy raids on Hanover. Five USAAF B-17s also take part, their first night raid on Germany. 26 are lost and of seven Lancasters, two are from 460 Squadron, those captained by F/Sgts R Hansen and C Smith.

September 23 – New Britain. Kittyhawks of 76 Squadron again dive bomb Gasmata airfield. F/Sgt M Roantree fails to return. Beauforts of 8 Squadron attack Cape Hoskins airfield losing one crew captained by F/O F Spooner. September 23/24-Britain. Target Mannheim. Of 628 aircraft, 32 are lost including one Lancaster from 460 Squadron and two from 467. The raid is compressed into 33 minutes, ie. , one aircraft over the target every 3. 5 seconds. After this, Mannheim is removed from Bomber Command’s priority bombing list. September 25 – New Britain. A No 6 Squadron Beaufort captained by F/O Lennon chases a Betty South of Cape St George but has to disengage because of shortage of fuel. New Guinea. After dive bombing in the Finschafen area, 24 (Vengeance) Squadron receives a signal: “Troops exhilarated by your attack. Accuracy of aircraft on difficult targets enabled two companies to cross Bumi River. ‘ Eastern Front. The Soviets take Smolensk and Roslavl – probably their most important success since Kursk. The Germans are retreating behind the Dniepr, where they have been ordered to make a stand by Hitler.

September 26-Mediterranean. 458 (Wellington) Squadron has increased its bombing effort, particularly in attacking road convoys on Corsica. It also engages in U-boat hunts, one being positively damaged by F/Sgt Graham & crew. September 27-Australia. 21 Lily bombers escorted by Zero fighters make a surprise daylight raid on the Drysdale River Mission and the nearby airfield being used as a staging base for RAAF aircraft on missions to Koepang and Penfui. A priest and five aborigines are killed. With no RAAF fighters in the area, the Japanese return to Timor unchallenged and without loss.

Italy. The British 8th Army enters Foggia, capturing the airfields without a fight.

September 27/28-Britain. The second Hanover raid by 678 aircraft fails because of inaccurate marking. 38 Bomber Command aircraft and one B-17 are lost. 460 Squadron loses F/Sgt L Dargie and crew. F/Sgt B Crosbie belly lands his Lancaster at Aldenborough on return.

September 28- New Guinea. 24 Squadron Vengeances give close support to the Australian amphibious assault at Sattelburg.

September 30-Aegean. This is now 459 (Hudson) Squadron’s principal area of operations with surface craft in particular the targets. It has also begun bombing enemy coastal installations and airfields in Greece and Crete.