By Jemima Burt
- In short: Human remains have been identified after four crew members and the WWII aircraft they were aboard went missing in 1943.
- Air Marshal Robert Chipman said it was heartwarming for the families of the late crew to learn of their loved ones’ final resting place.
- What’s next? A memorial for the families will take place later this month and the aircraft’s identity plate and cockpit lever will be returned to Australia.
(ABC-Australia) The remains of two Australian World War II officers have been positively identified, 79 years after their aircraft crashed in waters south of Papua New Guinea, following a search commissioned by a mining magnate.
Three Queensland men and a Tasmanian were onboard the Number 100 Squadron (100SQN) WWII Beaufort aircraft when it went missing south of Gasmata in 1943.
The crash site was first identified in 2020, by a private dive team employed by Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest, whose wartime uncle remains missing.
The team returned in February 2022 to identify the aircraft and found bone material, which was then examined by anthropologists and DNA specialists.
Specialist divers worked on the extensively fire damaged aircraft — covered in sediment and marine growth — after it was found resting on the sea floor at 43 metres deep.
Bone fragments have been confirmed as belonging to 28-year-old Warrant Officer Clement Batstone Wiggins from Gatton and 34-year-old Warrant Officer Russell Henry Grigg from Brisbane.
There were no remains identified of 22-year-old Flight Sergeant Albert Beckett from Launceston and 26-year-old Flight Sergeant Gordon Lewis Hamilton from Brisbane.
Air Force head, Air Marshal Robert Chipman, thanked Dr Forrest for his effort and said it was heartwarming for the families to learn of their loved ones’ final resting place.
“We will continue to strive to find, recover and identify our missing service personnel as part of our commitment to honouring their service and sacrifice for our nation,” Air Marshal Chipman said.
Mr Forrest’s uncle, Flying Officer David Forrest, was lost during a mission to Gasmata while piloting a similar RAAF 100SQN Beaufort. That wreck is yet to be identified.
“We must never forget the sacrifices these young men and women made,” Mr Forrest said.
“They had their entire lives ahead of them, yet were prepared to risk it all to defend our country and our way of life.”
A memorial for the families of all four crew is set down for April 26 this year at RAAF Base Amberley.
The aircraft identity plate and cockpit lever were recovered from the site and will be returned to Australia under a permit granted by the PNG National Museum and Art Gallery.