Operation: Reconnaissance of the Banda Sea

Date: 27th March 1944 (Monday)

Unit No: 2 Squadron RAAF

Type: Hudson

Serial: A16-230

Code: Unknown

Base: Hughes Airfield, near Darwin

Location: Near Dai Island, in the southern Banda Sea

Pilot: Sqn Ldr. John Leonard Scott 290602 RAAF Age 30. PoW */Murdered (1)

Nav (B): Flt Sgt. Robert Ian Maxwell King 427122 RAAF Age 21. PoW */Murdered (1)

WOp/Air Gnr: Fg Off. Donald Cosmo Beddoe 401731 RAAF Age 27. PoW/Murdered/MiA

WOp/Air Gnr: Flt Sgt. Bruce Eskdale Wallace 410763 RAAF Age 21. PoW */Murdered (1)

Air Gnr: Flt Sgt. Keith Charles Wright 434064 RAAF Age 19. PoW */Murdered (1)

* Tan Toey PoW Camp, near Ambon town, Dutch East Indies

Above: Sqn Ldr. John L. Scott, Flt Sgt. Robert I. M. King (courtesy of the Australian War Memorial)

Above left to right: Fg Off. Donald C. Beddoe, Flt Sgt. Bruce E. Wallace, Flt Sgt. Keith C. Wright (Courtesy of their Service Records)

REASON FOR LOSS:

On the 27th March 1944 Hudson A16-230 was detailed to carry out an lone operational reconnaissance flight of the Islands in the Banda Sea. The aircraft took-off from Hughes Airfield in Darwin at 09:18 hrs with an estimated time of arrival back at base of 17:30 hrs the same day. No communication was received from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return at the expected time.

The next day at 04:30 hrs five (5) aircraft from the squadron took-off to search for the missing aircraft and crew. They flew in formation over the exact track the missing aircraft would have taken. Visibility at the time of the search was unlimited but the search proved fruitless. A further search was carried out on the 29th March by a B-25 from 18 (Netherlands East Indies) Sqn but again proved fruitless.

Post-war it was determined from an informant that the aircraft had crashed on Dai Island of the Barbar Island Group in the southern Banda Sea. The circumstances leading to the loss of the aircraft have not been established but it may have been shot down. The five (5) crew members survived and using the aircraft dinghy somehow reached Metail Miarang Island, some 97 miles to the SW of Dai Island.

The lighthouse keeper on the island provided food and lodging but after about two (2) weeks with food running low the informant with some companions set out for Luang Barat on Luang (Loeang) Island some 12 miles to the east to obtain supplies. They took with them a letter from the lighthouse keeper to the village head at Luang Barat.

The informant concluded that the letter contained information concerning the Australians because three (3) days later, on the 3rd April 1944 at about 09:00 hrs, three (3) Prahoes (native canoes) manned by Japanese soldiers, Indonesian auxiliaries and a number of inhabitants of Luang Barat, arrived at the Island.

The lighthouse was surrounded and the Australians were invited to surrender which they did and were taken to Luang (Loeang) Island where they remained for a number of days. They were transported by boat to Babar Island via Wetan Island some 52 miles to the ENE of Luang (Loeang) Island and held at Tela on the SW coast of Babar Island.

About a month later transferred to Saumalaki on Yamdena island about 110 miles due east of Tela. On the 24th May 1944 they were then taken by a Japanese barge from Saumalaki to Toeal enroute to Ambon.

While the group of two (2) barges were passing through the narrow strait between Tenaman (Namwaan) and Makassar (Itain) islands off the north coast of Yamdena island, they were attacked by two (2) aircraft. Both barges were badly damaged and were beached on Makassar (Itain) island with one being a total loss.

It was later established that the aircraft were B-25s from 18 (Netherlands East Indies) Sqn, 79 Wing. The squadron was staffed by a mixture of Dutch and Australian personnel and placed under RAAF operational command. At the conclusion of hostilities, the squadron came under Dutch control and Australian personnel were transferred out.

In the course of the attack native eye-witnesses stated that four (4) or five (5) Japanese had been killed. Also that none of the Australians had been killed but one had been shot by the Japanese and the body thrown overboard. As Fg Off. Beddoe was definitely at Saumalaki and did not arrive at Ambon it was considered that he was the Australian who had been shot and thrown overboard. It was speculated but unproven that Fg Off. Beddoe was either waving at the attacking aircraft when he was shot or that he was killed in retribution for the deaths of the Japanese.

Note: Nobody appeared to have been held accountable for the alleged killing of Fg Off. Beddoe.

One of the barges was repaired and proceeded with the remaining Australians and their guards, and reached Ambon some 320 miles to the NW where they were detained in the Victoria Barracks. In June or July 1944 they were taken to the Tan Toey PoW Camp and held in a solitary cell outside of the PoW compound.

(1) The fates Sqn Ldr. Scott, Flt Sgt. King, Flt Sgt. Wallace and Flt Sgt. Wright were unknown until a Military Tribunal was held on Morotai Island, in the Netherlands East Indies (NEI), between the 25th and 28th February 1946.

Three (3) Japanese nationals were charged with committing a war crime that is to say murder of PoWs in that they at or near Galala Ambon on or about the 16th August 1944 murdered Sqn Ldr. Scott, Flt Sgt. King, Flt Sgt. Wallace and Flt Sgt. Wright, members of the RAAF and then PoWs held by the Japanese Armed Forces.

The three (3) accused were:

Former Sub-Lt. (Kaigun-Dai-i) KATAYAMA, Hideo;
Former Sub-Lt. (Kaigun-Dai-i) TAKAHASHI, Toyoji;
Former WO. (Kaigun- Heisōchō) UEMURA, Shigeo.

The Japanese word Kaigun preceding a rank indicates that it relates to the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN).

The court heard that on or about the 16th August 1944 Sub-Lt. (Kaigun-Dai-i) KATAYAMA and Sub-Lt. (Kaigun-Dai-i)TAKAHASHI received orders from their senior staff officer to execute the four (4) airmen. WO. (Kaigun- Heisōchō)UEMURA then the platoon commander of the Compound Guards was ordered by Lt. (Kaigun-chūi) KATAYAMA to prepare for the execution.

The four (4) airmen were taken by truck to the place of execution on Ambon and were beheaded by KATAYAMA, TAKAHASHI, Ensign (Kaigun-Shōi) NISHIDA, Takashi and Petty Officer (PO) (Kaigun-Jōtōheisō) YOSHIZAKI. The latter two named were not before the court.

Note: PO. (Kaigun-Jōtōheisō) YOSHIZAKI Kiyosato later served 12 years imprisonment in Benteng for his part in the murder of four (4) Australian members of the AIF who were PoWs at Ambon;

It is not known why Ensign (Kaigun-Shōi) NISHIDA was not before the court. The only information known at that time was that he was on the island of Java after the executions.

It was established that:

KATAYAMA executed Sqn Ldr. Scott;
TAKAHASHI executed Flt Sgt. Wallace;
NISHIDA and YOSHIZAKI executed Flt Sgt. King and Flt Sgt. Wright.

UATURA had sent guards and the burial party to the execution site, and was present at the execution. However, there was no evidence that he actually executed a prisoner.

KATAYAMA in evidence insisted that the four (4) PoWs had been tried and sentenced by court-martial. It was claimed at trial that the airmen were flying the aircraft that, prior to crashing because of engine trouble, had strafed a native Hamlet killing a number of civilian Indonesians. The Japanese claimed that this action was against International Law and thus a crime which was also a crime according to Japanese Court-Martial Law.

However, no evidence was produced to justify this claim and in fact the Legal Officer for Court Martials, Lt Cmdr. (Kaigun-shōsa) KOBAYASHI, Akira, stated that the Japanese IJN HQ 4th Fleet and the IJN 25th Naval Base Unit did not deal with a single case concerning PoWs between the 30th November 1943 and the 10th September 1945.

It was believed that instructions to execute the airmen had been given to KATAYAMA by a Lt Cdr. (Kaigun-shōsa) Baron TAKASAKI Maramitsu at IJN HQ 4th Fleet. It was claimed that KATAYAMA, being a junior officer, was bound to comply with the orders of a senior officer.

It was claimed that Lt Cmdr. (Kaigun-shōsa) Baron TAKASAKI would not have issued that instruction without being ordered to do so by the C-in-C Vice Admiral (Kaigun-chūjō) YAMAGATA at the IJN HQ 4th Fleet. Furthermore, TAKASAKI was before a military tribunal on the 11th and 12th January 1946 and charged with issuing instructions for a similar war crime but was found not guilty.

The court found all three (3) accused guilty of the charge and they were sentenced to death by firing squad. Despite strong petitions refuting the findings of the court especially in the case of UEMURA, who was present but did not execute any of the victims, the verdicts and sentences were confirmed. The warrants for execution were issued on the 6th April 1946.

UEMURA was executed on the 4th May 1946 at 08:30 hrs. KATAYAMA and TAKAHASHI were executed on the 23rd October 1947 at 07:30 hrs and 08:15 hrs respectively.

Burial details:

Above: Grave marker for Sqn Ldr. John L. Scott (Courtesy of the TWGPP).

Sqn Ldr. John Leonard Scott. Ambon War Cemetery 21.C.9. Grave Inscription: “HIS DUTY FEARLESSLY AND NOBLY DONE, REQUIESCAT IN PACE”. Born on the 8th March 1914 in South Australia. Son of John James and Alberta Jesemaine (née Tucker) Scott. Husband of Myrtle Edith Ginny (née Tomlinson) Scott of Mount Lawley, Western Australia.

Above: Grave marker for Flt Sgt. Robert I.M. King (Courtesy of the TWGPP).

Flt Sgt. Robert Ian Maxwell King. Ambon War Cemetery 21.C.8. Grave Inscription: “REMEMBERED ALWAYS WITH AFFECTION AND PRIDE”. Born on the 16th April 1923 in Kalamunda, Western Australia. Son of John James Maxwell and Jemima King of South Perth, Western Australia.

Above: Northern Territory Memorial, Panel 6 for Fg Off. Donald C. Beddoe(Courtesy of the TWGPP).

Fg Off. Donald Cosmo Beddoe. Northern Territory Memorial, Panel 6. Born on the 29th June 1917 in Elsternwick, Victoria. Son of David and Emily Ann (née Charles - deceased in 1941) Beddoe. Husband of Adele Margaret (née Paton) Beddoe of Brunswick, Victoria, Australia.

Above: Grave marker for Flt Sgt. Bruce E. Wallace (Courtesy of the TWGPP).

Flt Sgt. Bruce Eskdale Wallace. Ambon War Cemetery 21.C.7. Grave Inscription: “FOREVER YOUNG, HIS SOUL SOARS ON AMONG THE STARS HE SOUGHT”. Born on the 30th July 1923 in Bendigo, Victoria. Son of Rupert Clive and Edna (née Eskdale) Wallace of Bendigo, Victoria, Australia.

Above: Grave marker for Flt Sgt. Keith C. Wright (Courtesy of the TWGPP).

Flt Sgt. Keith Charles Wright. Ambon War Cemetery 21.C.6. Grave Inscription: “HIS DUTY FEARLESSLY AND NOBLY DONE, EVER REMEMBERED”. Born on the 10th July 1924 in Brisbane, Queensland. Son of Edward and Gladys Ivy (née Morton) Wright of Kangaroo Point, Queensland, Australia.

Researched by Ralph Snape for Aircrew Remembered and dedicated to the crew and their relatives (Apr 2026).

Thanks to The War Graves Photographic Project (TWGPP) for their great work.

Other sources listed below:

Reference(s):

1. NAA: A471, 80918: War Crimes - Military Tribunal.

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