Australian Victoria Cross Recipient
Flight Lieutenant William Ellis Newton
Unit
No. 22 Squadron, RAAF
Born
8 June 1919 at St Kilda, Victoria
Date of action
16 March 1943
Place
Salamaua Isthmus, New Guinea (now Papua New Guinea)
Details
On 16 March, two days before his last flight, he led an attack through intense and accurate shell fire and, although his aircraft was hit repeatedly, he held to his course and bombed his target from a low level. The attack resulted in the destruction of many buildings and dumps including two 40,000 gallon fuel installations. His aircraft was crippled, with fuselage and wing sections torn, petrol tanks pierced, main planes and engines seriously damaged, and one of the main tyres flat, but he managed to fly back to base and make a successful landing.
Two days later he returned to the same locality. His target was a single building. He attacked it through a barrage of fire, but as he scored a hit his aircraft burst into flames. He kept the aircraft in the air for as long as he could to get the crew as far away as possible from the enemy’s positions. With great skill he brought his blazing aircraft down on the water.
Died
29 March 1943. He was executed by Japanese. His body was recovered when Australian troops took Salamaua.
Buried or Commemorated
Lae War Cemetery, Papua New Guinea. There is a memorial panel in the Presbyterian Church, St Kilda, Melbourne.
Current location of the VC
Australian War Memorial