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Archive Report: Allied Forces

Compiled from official National Archive and Service sources, contemporary press reports, personal logbooks, diaries and correspondence, reference books, other sources, and interviews.
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RNZAF crest
3 Flying Training School Oxford II NZ1237 LAC. James Edgar Norman Corin

Operation: Training

Date: 14th January 1942 (Wednesday)

Unit: No. 3 Flying Training School

Type: Oxford II

Serial: NZ1237

Code: -

Base: RNZAF Ohakea

Location: Tararua range, New Zealand

Pilot: LAC. James Edgar Norman Corin NZ/414963 RNZAF Age 29. Killed

Pilot: LAC. Ronald Alfred Walter Abrahams NZ/391792 RNZAF Age 23. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Taking off shortly after 15:00 hrs on a wind direction and direction-finding exercise. But failed to return.

Despite an extensive search no trace of the aircraft or the crew could be found.

Nearly four months later during the first week of May, the wreckage and crew remains were tumbled upon at Mitre Peak in the Tararua ranges, 13 miles west-south-west of Ohakea by a Mr. M. Trass. It seems that they had become lost while flying in cloud and at 15:50 hrs struck the mountain slope. Both crew were buried at the crash site but also remembered at the Auckland Provincial Memorial.

Above: NZ1237 (Courtesy Don Subritzky's collection)

Burial and personal details:

Above: Crew graves at the crash site (courtesy Air Force Museum of New Zealand)

LAC. James Edgar Norman Corin. Auckland Provincial Memorial. Born on the 28th March 1912 at Auckland. Educated at Auckland Grammar School. A warehouseman for Hutchinsons Warehouse in Auckland. Enlisted at Levin on the 07th September 1941 as a pilot under training. With No. 4 Elementary Flying Training School 19th October 1941. No. 3 Flying Training School 29th November 1941. Pilots badge was awarded on the 10th January 1942. Son of Henry Mortimer and Ethel Mary Corin (née Langwell) and husband of Honor Winifred Corin (née Ryan) of Claudelands, Hamilton, New Zealand.

LAC. Ronald Alfred Walter Abrahams. Auckland Provincial Memorial. Born on the 25th May 1919 at Cricklewood, London, England. Moved to New Zealand in 1927. Educated at Hobsonville School and Seddon Memorial Technical College. Worked as an upholsterer for F.S. Tyers Ltd in Auckland. Enlisted at Hobsonville on the 15th December 1939 as a fabric worker. Remustered as a pilot under training on the 08th September 1941. With No. 4 Elementary Flying Training School 19th October 1941, first solo on the 05th November 1941. No. 3 Flying Training School 29th November 1941. The pilots badge was awarded on the 10th January 1942. Son of Fl/Sgt. Walter Alfred and Winifred Abrahams (née Rushen) of 672 Manukau Road, Epsom, Auckland, New Zealand.


Note: His father, 49-year-old Fl/Sgt. Walter Alfred Abrahams a carpenter in the RNZAF NZ/29122 became seriously ill on the 01st March 1944 and passed away on the 10th July 1944 at home. Buried at Waikumete Cemetery/ Protestant Soldiers. G.66, Grave 53

Above as described (Courtesy Air Force Museum of New Zealand)

L-R: rear; Ronald Alfred Walter Abrahams NZ/391792, A.E. Jackson, J.T. Madsen, T.W. Parker, A.J. Faulkner.
Centre; H.S. Anderson, P.G. Ellis, Gordon Stanley Booth, Bruce Allen McHardie NZ/413441, Henry Ivor Herbert NZ/415189, Eric Snowden Kelly NZ/391525
Front; L.J. Bryant, John Richard Marsh NZ/414999, David Maurice Adamson NZ/415052, F.A. Edin, James Edgar Norman Corin NZ/414963.

Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this pilot with thanks to the extensive research by Errol Martyn and his publications: “For Your Tomorrow Vols. 1-3”, Auckland Library Heritage Collection, Weekly News of New Zealand, Air Museum of New Zealand, Museum of Transport and Technology, Auckland, Wings Over New Museum, other sources as quoted below:

KTY 14-05-2022

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Acknowledgements
Sources used by us in compiling Archive Reports include: Bill Chorley - 'Bomber Command Losses Vols. 1-9, plus ongoing revisions', Dr. Theo E.W. Boiten and Mr. Roderick J. Mackenzie - 'Nightfighter War Diaries Vols. 1 and 2', Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt - 'Bomber Command War Diaries', Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Tom Kracker - Kracker Luftwaffe Archives, Michel Beckers, Major Fred Paradie (RCAF) and MWO François Dutil (RCAF) - Paradie Archive (on this site), Jean Schadskaje, Major Jack O'Connor USAF (Retd.), Robert Gretzyngier, Wojtek Matusiak, Waldemar Wójcik and Józef Zieliński - 'Ku Czci Połeglyçh Lotnikow 1939-1945', Archiwum - Polish Air Force Archive (on this site), Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Franek Grabowski, Norman L.R. Franks 'Fighter Command Losses', Stan D. Bishop, John A. Hey MBE, Gerrie Franken and Maco Cillessen - Losses of the US 8th and 9th Air Forces, Vols 1-6, Dr. Theo E.W. Boiton - Nachtjagd Combat Archives, Vols 1-13. Aircrew Remembered Databases and our own archives. We are grateful for the support and encouragement of CWGC, UK Imperial War Museum, Australian War Memorial, Australian National Archives, New Zealand National Archives, UK National Archives and Fold3 and countless dedicated friends and researchers across the world.
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