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Beaufort Palmer

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Beaufort Mosman Hunter Palmer
Squadron Leader B.M.H. Palmer with Prime Minister Robert Menzies in August 1940 at RAAF Station Archerfield, Brisbane.
Nickname(s)"Beau"
Born(1919-12-14)14 December 1919
Brisbane, Australia
Died22 November 2011(2011-11-22) (aged 91)
Gold Coast, Australia
AllegianceAustralia
Service / branchRoyal Australian Air Force
Years of service1940–1945
RankSquadron Leader
CommandsNo. 5 Squadron RAAF
Battles / wars
AwardsDistinguished Flying Cross

Beaufort Mosman Hunter Palmer, DFC (14 December 1919 – 22 November 2011) was an Australian aviator of the Second World War who was recognised as one of Australia's finest wartime pilot instructors.[1]

Early life

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Beau was born in Toowong, Brisbane, the son of Carl Beaufort Hunter Palmer and Florence (née Robinson), and the grandson of Sir Arthur Hunter Palmer KCMG, an Irish-Australian politician and a Premier of Queensland.[1] His name Beaufort was his father's middle name which was in turn a reference to the Beaufort pastoral station operated by grandfather Arthur Palmer. His middle name Mosman refers to his paternal grandmother Cecilia Jessie Mosman, who was the sister of Hugh Mosman who discovered gold in Charters Towers.

Beau was educated at Brisbane Boys' College, where he played in the 1st XV and also rowed in two Head of the River (Queensland) winning crews in 1937 and 1938. He learnt to fly while still at school gaining his pilots wings in 1937 at Archerfield Airport with the Royal Queensland Aero Club.[1]

Military career

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Palmer joined the Royal Australian Air Force in 1938, was commissioned and posted to the RAAF Base Point Cook, Victoria as a flying instructor in 1939.[1]

In 1940, Palmer was the first pilot to land at the newly established RAAF Base Amberley near Ipswich.[2][3][4][5]

Palmer "pulled every string he could to gain a battlefield posting" and in 1944 assumed command of No. 5 Squadron RAAF.[1] The squadron was operating in Bougainville[1] and Palmer flew over 100 sorties in 1944 and 1945.[1]

He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on Bouganville where he led an operation that destroyed three or four Japanese tanks in a CAC Boomerang fighter. The tanks were sighted by a New Zealand Vought F4U Corsair pilot which returned to Piva Airfield. Squadron Leader Palmer then led other Corsairs to the target and directed the attack.[1][6][7]

In other operations Palmer achieved a direct hit on a Japanese hut at the southern end of Bouganville Island and in February and March 1945 supported the attacks at the Battle of Tsimba Ridge.[8][9][10][11]

Palmer's war ended in late May 1945 when he stepped on an old American anti-personnel mine. His leg was subsequently amputated.[1][12]

Post-war career

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After two years of medical treatment, Palmer purchased Kareelah, a 200 hectares (490 acres) property at Warra in the Darling Downs. Almost 30 years later he regained his wings in the 1970s.[1]

In later life Palmer was active with the Returned and Services League of Australia and contributed to saving ANZAC Park, Dean Street, Toowong, from development.[13] Aged 91, Palmer died on 22 November 2011.[1][14]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Coleman, Mike. "Obituary: Beaufort Mosman Hunter Palmer, DFC". The Courier Mail. Brisbane. p. 95. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  2. ^ "The War Years – Archerfield Airfield". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 17 August 2016. Pilot Officer Beaufort Mosman Hunter Palmer was the first pilot to land at the newly established RAAF Amberley. He landed at Amberley on the 2 July 1940, flying Moth Minor A21-7, some eight days before the official opening of RAAF Amberley to deliver a consignment of alcohol from RAAF Archerfield for the newly completed officer's club. He then lead his squadron in to land at Amberley on 10 July 1940, flying Wirraway A20-69, for the official opening of RAAF Amberley. Beau Palmer later received a Distinguished Flying Cross for an attack on 5 Japanese tanks advancing on Australian troops on Bougainville. Beau Palmer, DFC passed away on 22 November 2011 on the Gold Coast.
  3. ^ Marks, Roger (1994). Queensland Airfields WW2 – 50 Years On. Brisbane. p. 276. ISBN 0646127691. Retrieved 17 August 2016.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. ^ Lemmon, Kate (25 January 2011). "Base hitting the heights". The Queensland Times. Ipswich. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  5. ^ Lemmon, Kate (17 June 2010). "Air base still flying high". The Queensland Times. Ipswich. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  6. ^ Long, Gavin Merrick (1963). Australia in the War of 1939–1945: Series One, Army, Volume VII The Final Campaigns (PDF). Adelaide: The Griffin Press. p. 156. ISBN 0642993661. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2016. A fortnight earlier a few Japanese tanks had been located. A New Zealand Corsair pilot reported having seen enemy tanks at Rurl Bay in the north-east of the Island. Squadron Leader B.M.H. Palmer, commanding No 5 Squadron RAAF led other Corsairs to the target and guided them while they attacked three tanks, all of which they damaged. As a result of this and a later attack two were destroyed but the third was evidently moved away.
  7. ^ "Award D.F.C." Australian War Memorial. 25 October 1949. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  8. ^ "Wirraway Completes Attack". The Advocate. Burnie. 26 February 1945. p. 5. Retrieved 16 August 2016. Despite heavy bombing by four R.N.Z.A.F. Corsairs on a concentration of Japanese huts at the southern end of Bougainville Island, it remained for an R.A.A.F. Wirraway to complete the work, said a message from R.A.A.F. Headquarters. The Kiwis were led in by Squadron Leader Beau Palmer, of Brisbane, Queensland, in a Wirraway, with Flying Officer F. Meadows, of Mount Lawley, W.A., as observer. They blasted the area with bombs. After the smoke had cleared, Squadron Leader Palmer flew down to observe the damage. To his surprise a hut 60 ft. by 20 ft. had survived the attack, the rest being demolished. He had a phosphorus bomb, usually used to indicate targets, so came down to 50 ft., and let it go as a parting gesture to the Japs. It was a direct hit, the hut immediately catching fire and blazing for 20 minutes.
  9. ^ "No. 5 Squadron". Australian War Memorial. Canberra. Retrieved 16 August 2016. From Torokina in Bougainville, the unit undertook tactical reconnaissance, led a strike on Japanese positions by RNZAF Corsairs, and made an attack on enemy positions at Pearl Ridge in support of an army assault. In February and March 1945 an attack was made on positions at Tsimba Ridge and against enemy tanks at Ruri Bay.
  10. ^ Brown, Ernest John (2000). The history of 5 RAAF Squadron : Boomerang and Wirraway fighters in the Bougainville campaign. Winmalee N.S.W.: Blackletter Editorial Services. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  11. ^ Harrison, John Thomas (18 February 1945). "AWM Photograph OG2266". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 17 August 2016. Torokina, Bouganville Island, Solomon Islands. 1945-02-18. Chief of Air Staff Air Vice-Marshall Jones CB CBE DFC (CENTRE) Inspects pilots of No 5 (Tactical Reconnaissance) Squadron RAAF. 469 Squadron Leader Beau Palmer, Brisbane, QLD, and 53 Group Captain W. L. Hely, Melbourne, VIC (extreme left), introduce their chief to the pilots.
  12. ^ Units of the Royal Australian Air Force: A Concise History. Volume 2: Fighter Units (PDF). RAAF Historical Section. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service. 1995. p. 18. ISBN 0-644-42794-9. Retrieved 16 August 2016. In the period 3–10 May, unit aircraft combined with others in attacks on enemy positions in support of the Army advance and capture of Wewak. The Commanding Officer, Squadron Leader B.M. Palmer, was injured on 29 May 1945 when he trod on an old American anti-personnel mine.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  13. ^ "Squadron Leader". Toowong RSL Sub Branch. 29 March 2011. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  14. ^ "Social Pages". Sunday Mail. Brisbane. 10 February 1946. p. 7. Retrieved 17 August 2016. Settled in Toowoomba after the War
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