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Pilot Officer James WhitfordPrint Page Print this page

27-January-2019[Peter Williams}
27-January-2019[Peter Williams}

Photographs supplied by Terry Roberts / Peter Williams

The memorial was originally unveiled as a fountain in memory Royal Australian Air Force pilot James Whitford who was killed on war service at Point Cook. Whitford was a champion pilot of the Royal Aero Club of New South Wales in 1938-1939. The fountain appears to be no longer functioning. 

Over 200 people stood in heavy rain at Five Dock Park yesterday afternoon, to watch the unveiling and dedication of the Whitford Memorial Fountain. The memorial was dedicated to the late Pilot-Officer J. R. Whitford, formerly of Five Dock, who was killed when an R.A.A..F machine crashed at Point Cook, Victoria, on November 29, 1939. He left a wife and daughter, Janette, now two years old. The memorial was given by Five Dock residents at a cost of £150 and was unveiled by the Mayor of Five Dock (Alderman R. T. C. Storey). The honorary secretary of the memorial committee (Mrs. H. Gray) said a collection for a wreath had been over subscribed in half an hour. "Pilot-Officer Whitford was so popular in the district, we decided to collect enough for a memorial," she said. Telegrams from R.A.A.F. friends of Pilot-Officer Whitford, stationed at training schools and unable to be present, were read at the ceremony, which was attended by a detachment of the Women's Volunteer Naval Reserve, Five Dock N.E.S. women, returned soldiers, and Boy Scouts.
Daily Telegraph (Sydney), 2 June 1941.

Location

Address:Park Road & First Avenue, Five Dock Park, Five Dock, 2046
State:NSW
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -33.867109
Long: 151.134564
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
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Details

Monument Type:Monument
Monument Theme:People
Sub-Theme:Military
Actual Event Start Date:29-November-1939
Actual Event End Date:29-November-1939

Dedication

Actual Monument Dedication Date:Sunday 1st June, 1941
Front Inscription

WHITFORD
MEMORIAL 


RAAF

 

Back Inscription

DEDICATED by the CITIZENS and FRIENDS
                to the MEMORY of
Pilot Officer JAMES RICHMOND WHITFORD (R.A.A.F.)
             Killed on WAR SERVICE
 POINT COOK, VICTORIA , November 29th, 1939
                    Aged 27 years 
CHAMPION PILOT, Royal Aero Club 1938-1939
                 AVIATOR PATRON 
Haberfield-Five Dock-Abbotsford Sub-Branch of the 
Returned Sailors, Soldiers and Airmen's 
             Imperial League of Australia 

               *                    *                       *

Late Civil Aviation Instructor to Airflite Pty. Ltd. 
     Kingsford Smith Aerodrome, Mascot 

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