Branch of Service

Air Force

Conflict

World War II (1939-1945)

Date of Enlistment

19/08/1940

Place of Enlistment

Sydney NSW

Gender

Male

Date of Birth

27/01/1919

Place of Birth

Elwood, Melbourne, Victoria

Address (at enlistment)

56 National Circuit, Forrest, Canberra ACT

School(s) Attended

Camberwell Grammar School (Victoria); Telopea Park Primary School (1928-30), Telopea Park Intermediate High School [original Canberra High School] (1931-35)

Occupation

Commonwealth Public Servant, Department of Taxation, Canberra ACT.

Next of Kin

Son of Frank Gordon Thorpe, public servant, and Elsie Rebecca Thorpe, of 56 National Circuit, Forrest, Canberra ACT.

Burial Place

Ranchi War Cemetery, India: grave 1.E.12.

Service Number

402419

Final Rank

Warrant Officer

Final Unit

110 Squadron RAF

Died 21 April 1943 aged 24 years, accidentally, in India.

AWM Roll of Honour, Canberra ACT: Panel 131.
St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Forrest, Canberra. Screen in Warriors' Chapel.
Plaque on interior wall in foyer of Manuka Swimming Pool inscribed: "To honour the memory of Members of the Canberra Amateur Swimming Club who gave their lives in the 1939-45 War", listing 9 names.
Canberra High School Memorial Tablet

Thorpe was the son of the Chairman of the Public Service Board and was educated at Camberwell Grammar School and Telopea Park (where he completed his intermediate certificate in 1933). Before the war he was a scout in the 3rd Canberra (St. John's) Troop. He was appointed to the Department of Trade and Customs in March 1936 but was studying economics part-time at the Canberra University College when he enlisted in August 1940. Thorpe trained at Bradfield Park and Mascot before qualifying as a pilot at Wagga Wagga. He embarked from Sydney on 8 April 1941, disembarking in England on 1 August 1941. He served in bomber squadrons in England and India. He joined 110 Squadron in the UK on 24 November 1941 based at RAF Station Aylshaw and proceeded to Ranchi in India on 21 April 1943.

Thorpe died on 21 April 1943 when his plane crashed after colliding with another plane while trying to get into formation over India. Thorpe is buried in Ranchi War Cemetery, in Bengal, India: grave 1.E.12.

Ranchi is a town in the State of Jharkhand, some 419 kilometres. north-west of Calcutta.

Australia. Department of Veterans' Affairs. World War 2 nominal roll. <http://www.ww2roll.gov.au/>
Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Debt of Honour Register. <http://www.cwgc.org/cwgcinternet/search/>
AWM Roll of Honour and Roll of Honour Circulars <http://www.awm.gov.au/database/roh.asp>
Manuka Swimming Pool Plaque described above.
Commonwealth Public Service Clerical Association, Australian Capital Territory Branch. Honour Roll. [Members on active service, published in newsletter]
Presbyterian Church of Australia. Church of St Andrew, Canberra. Form and order for the dedication of the memorial window and memorials in the Warriors' Chapel, Sunday, 14th November, 1948. Canberra, 1948
The Echo [quarterly newsletter of the Presbyterian Canberra Parish of St Andrew]: no. 4, September 1943, p.4; Jan 1944 supplement.
Barbara Petersen. Acts of faith: the story of the Church of St Andrews, Canberra. Gundaroo, Brolga Press, 2001, (p.60)
Ross F. Rowe, 'The Building and Furnishing of the Presbyterian Church of St. Andrew's', 1992
Canberra High School. Roll of Honour 1939-1945. [Plaque in school]
Canberra High School. Albums compiled for student project researching names on School Roll of Honour, 1985.
Canberra High School. Unveiling of Memorial Tablet. Friday, 25th April 1947.
The Canberra Times - 26 January 1934, 28 April 1943, 29 April 1943, 15 November 1948