Donald Alexander Dowie (1917 - abt. 2017)

Born 24 Sep 1917 in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

Ancestors

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Biography

ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 25770 Last updated: 5 April 2020 This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information. If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can submit corrected information.

Date: 08-DEC-1941 Time: Type: Silhouette image of generic L14 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different Lockheed Hudson Owner/operator: 1 Sqn RAAF Registration: A16-94 C/n / msn: 1948 Fatalities: Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 4 Other fatalities: 0 Aircraft damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: 3 miles Off Kota Bharu - Malaysia Phase: Combat Nature: Military Departure airport: Kota Bharu, Malaya Destination airport: Narrative: During the early morning hours of December 8, 1941 this Hudson took off from Kota Bharu Airfield on a bombing mission against the Japanese landing force off Kota Bharu. Returning to base, the Hudsons were refueled and re-armed for another mission.

Took off on a second sortie over the invasion force. Over the target, A16-94 was shot down and crashed into the sea, roughly three miles from the coast. This Hudson became the first Australian aircraft lost during the Pacific war, and the crew were the first Australians killed in the Pacific Theatre of Operations

Crew; Flt Lt J. C. Ramshaw (Pilot) KIA Flying Officer Donald Alexander Dowie (2nd Pilot), survived, taken PoW (see below) Sgt G.C. White (W/AG) KIA and Sgh J.C. Coldrey (W/AG) KIA

Flying Officer Dowie survived for two days in the sea aboard a small native boat. Taken prisoner by a Japanese patrol boat, he spent the duration of the war as a POW in Singapore. Dowie survived the war and was repatriated to Australia in October 1945. He was formally discharged from the RAAF on January 11, 1946.

In 1976, a Pratt and Whitney R-1839 SC3-G twin row radial engine from this wreck was recovered from the sea by fisherman Abdul Rahman Bin Win Harum. The next year, the second engine was recovered. Both engines were transported to Australia the next year and were acquired by the Australian War Memorial (AWM).

Both engines are on display at Australian War Memorial. The one engine with bent propellers is display at in Bradbury Aircraft Hall as part of the Air Power in the Pacific 1941-63 exhibit. The second engine is displayed in the Second World War Hall.

One engine is on display in the Pacific Air Power exhibit, the other is on display in the Second World War Hall NOK Gertrude Dowie Sources:

http://www.projectpriam.com/priam/view_aircraft.asp?id=A16-94 https://www.pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/hudson/A16-19.html http://www.adf-gallery.com.au//2a16.shtml

Revision history: Date/time Contributor Updates 27-Sep-2008 01:00 ASN archive Added 24-Mar-2013 19:05 Dr. John Smith

Sources

• http://www.aviation-safety.net/wikibase/25770

https://nominal-rolls.dva.gov.au/veteran?id=1045968&c=WW2#R