VETERAN PILOT KILLED
LEADER OF DESERT PATROL Melbourne, iJec. 30. Squadron-Leader S. J. Welshman, D.F.M.. commanding officer of the “Desert Harassers.” a veteran Australian fighter squadron, was killed in aqtion in Italy on Ist December. His home was in Newcastle, New South Wales, where he was a well-known Rugby League player and all-round athlete. He left Australia in December, 1940, and was trained in Rhodesia. He was posted as sergeant-pilot to a strategical reconnaissance unit in the Western Desert. With his squadron he flew 35 operational hours and won an immediate award of the D.F.M. for outstanding work. Early jn 1942 Squadron- Leader Welshman became commanding officer of a reconnaissance flight of Blenheims stationed near the Turkish border, and later of a similar flight of Mustangs. Finally he was posted as C.O. to the “Desert Harassers” and had been their leader for only 24 days when, after a successful bombing attack, his plane stalled during a steep turn and crashed. He was killed instantly.
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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 79, 7 January 1944, Page 5
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164VETERAN PILOT KILLED Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 79, 7 January 1944, Page 5
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