24
BAMOS
June 2017
and was in Tokyo Bay for the Japanese surrender. In all 15 men
died on the ‘Nizam’ during the war: one died of a heart attack,
another died of disease, a third died in a car accident whilst on
leave, two others drowned at sea and their bodies recovered
and the remaining 10 men were washed off the ship when it hit
a rogue wave off Cape Leeuwin in a gale and their bodies never
found. The ‘Nizam’ lost no one under fire during the war.
Flight Sergeant Kenneth Edgar Foxcroft (WWII)
Flight Sergeant Foxcroft was 20 years old. He was born in Leeds
in England but enlisted in Perth, WA. He joined the Empire Air
Training Scheme and was attached to 97 Squadron Royal Air
Force (RAF) which flew Lancaster Bombers. He took off for a raid
on Berlin on 17 December 1943 and his aircraft was one of over
500 which took part in that raid. Over 50 aeroplanes were lost
on that night. He died when his aeroplane crashed on returning
to England after successfully completing the raid. Around 25
other aeroplanes crashed in England on that night after the raid
as a result of the fact that a lot of England had fogged in before
they got back.
Major General George Vasey CB, CBE, DSO
and Bar (top image)
Major General George Vasey was the third highest ranked
Australian Army Officer to die in WWII. He had just been
given the position of commander of the 6th Division in New
Guinea and was flying there when his aircraft crashed in a
Tropical Cyclone just north of Cairns aerodrome. Eight other
men died in the crash including Lieutenant Colonel Robert
Russell, Lieutenant Colonel George Bertram and the pilot Flight
Lieutenant Bassett. The anecdotal story is that the pilot was
advised not to fly due to the poor weather conditions by the
duty Meteorological Officer. However a review of the court
of enquiry on the accident would need to be undertaken to
determine the veracity of this story. While this file is located at
National Archives of Australia, it is not available online.
General Sir Cyril Bingham Brudenell White
KCB, KCMG, KCVO, DSO (bottom image)
General Brudenell White was the highest ranked army officer to
die in WWII. He had served as a regular officer in the Australian
Army during both the Boer War and WWI where he became Chief
of Staff to the ANZAC Corps Commander General Birdwood.
He was a brilliant organiser and was responsible for not only
planning the evacuation of Gallipoli but also the doubling
of the AIF from two divisions to four divisions in six weeks in
Egypt after Gallipoli (a division consisting of 20,000 men). He
was the other person in consideration for the Australian Corps
Commander in 1918, the position that was given to Sir John
Top: Major General George Vasey.
Bottom: General Sir Cyril Bingham Brudenell White