Wartime History
Landed at Wau Airfield during the Japanese air raid against the airfield. As bombs fell along the runway, the crew abandoned their plane before it was hit and caught fire and destroyed on the ground.

Daniel Leahy reports:
"I managed to find the list of possibilities, the greatest possiblility being A20-504, that belonged to 4 Squadron.  The status card for 504 states "Crashed at Wau" - the date entered being 04.02.1943.  Though this entry is AFTER the entry for 07.02.1943 which says the aircraft "Received 15 RSU ex 4 Sqn" - meaning the crash entry was written days after the event, so could be a couple of days later (as the dates on these cards often are). According to the Australian War Memorial collection database, the crew for this aircraft were F/Sgt A Rodburn and Sgt A E Cole - both of whom scrambled from the aircraft seconds before the photo was taken and threw themselves flat on the ground.  Cole received a minor shrapnel wound in the shoulder. Unfortunately I don't have any sort of accident card for A20-504 that might confirm the crew and/or date."

References
Thanks to Daniel Leahy for this information.
The Battle for Wau page 215

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Last Updated
October 9, 2009