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33 Pursuit Squadron-Lt Jack Peres 2 / may 2013
33 Pursuit Squadron-Lt Jack Peres 2 / may 2013

Photographs supplied by Peter F Williams

The collection of aircraft artefacts on display at the Australian Aviation Heritge Centre commemorates the airmen of the 33rd Pursuit Squadron and the four airmen who lost their lives in the Japanese attack on Darwin on the 19th February 1942.

At 9.58 am on Thursday 19 February 1942, 188 Japanese carrier-based aircraft began bombing Darwin. Thirty minutes later more than 240 people had been killed and more than 400 wounded.

They were met by 10 members of the USAAF 33rd Pursuit Squadron. This Squadron had been charged with the delivery of 10 P-40 Kittyhawk fighter aircraft to the East Indies. Outnumbered, the Americans proved no match for the Japanese pilots, veterans of the China war and Pearl Harbour. Despite their gallant resistance against impossible odds 9 of the American aircraft were shot down and 4 pilots killed.

Location

Address:557 Stuart Highway, Australian Aviation Heritage Centre, Winnellie, 0820
State:NT
Area:Foreign
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -12.425509
Long: 130.895642
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
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Details

Monument Type:Technology
Monument Theme:Conflict
Sub-Theme:WW2
Actual Event Start Date:19-February -1942
Actual Event End Date:19-February-1942

Dedication

Front Inscription

Plaque:

The 33 Pursuit Squadron (Provisional)....USAAF

At 9.58 am on Thursday 19 February 1942, 188 Japanese carrier-based aircraft began bombing Darwin.  Thirty minutes later more than 240 people had been killed and more than 400 wounded.

They were met by 10 members of the USAAF 33rd Pursuit Squadron. This Squadron had been charged with the delivery of 10 P-40 Kittyhawk fighter aircraft to the East Indies. Outnumbered, the Americans proved no match for the Japanese pilots, veterans of the China war and Pearl Harbour. Despite their gallant resistance against impossible odds 9 of the American aircraft were shot down and 4 pilots killed.

Those killed were:
Maj. Floyd Pell          Lt. Eldon Perry
Lt. Jack Peres          Lt. Charles Hughes

Lt. Robert Oestreicher survived the raid and remained airborne. He managed to shoot down 2 "Val" dive bombers and was credited with the first aerial victory over Australia.

This Allison engine was recovered from Lt. Peres aircraft.

This display is dedicated to the brave airmen of the 33rd Pursuit Squadron and to the memory of those four who paid the final sacrifice in their defence of Darwin.

 

Source: RVWM, MA
Monument details supplied by Monument Australia - www.monumentaustralia.org.au