AWM P07312.001

A portrait painting of an officer in uniform

Pilot Officer Walter Henry Rose, No. 460 Squadron RAAF and No. 156 Squadron (Pathfinders) RAF. Rose was killed on an operation to Berlin on 23–24 November 1943, but this coloured photograph of him was, according to the Australian War Memorial, produced in 1944 after his death. Here his medals have been superimposed on the print and to the left is the DFC awarded to him for his 'high reputation as an operational pilot which has since been enhanced by his skill and determination with which he pressed home attacks in varied targets in Germany, Italy and occupied territory'. In The Argus (Melbourne) Rose was described as the first airman from Cloncurry, Queensland, to be awarded the DFC and he was featured in a cartoon strip in the same paper under the heading ‘He helped to smash the Huns'. At one stage he flew in No. 460 Squadron's 'G for George', the aircraft which was flown to Australia in 1944 and is on display in the Australian War Memorial. According to The Argus 'when G for George visited Northern Australia the great bomber flew in a salute over Cloncurry, home of the late pilot [Rose]' [The Argus, 15 September 1945; AWM P07312.001]

Source
AWM P07312.001
Copyright

Copyright expired - public domain

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