William Ellis “Bill” Newton VC

b. 08/06/1919 St Kilda, Australia. d. 29/03/1943 Salamulua, Papua New Guinea.

William Ellis “Bill” Newton (1919-1943) was born on 8th June 1919 at St Kilda, Melbourne, son of Australian-born parents Charles Ellis Newton, dentist, and his second wife Minnie, née Miller. His three older half-siblings from Charles’ earlier marriage included two brothers, John and Lindsay, and a sister, Phyllis. Bill was educated to Intermediate certificate level at Melbourne Church of England Grammar School, where his masters regarded him as having qualities of leadership. He gave up further study when his father died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of fifty-one, and began working in a silk warehouse.

William E “Bill” Newton VC

Six ft 3 ins (191 cm) tall and 16 stone (102 kg) in weight, a fast bowler in cricket, he was friends with Keith Miller, and collected the Victorian Cricket Association (VCA) Colts bowling trophy for 1937–38, while Miller collected the equivalent batting prize. In January 1938, Newton dismissed Test batsman Bill Ponsford—still the only Australian to twice score 400 in a first-class innings —for four in a Colts game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The following year, he gained selection in Victoria’s Second XI. He opened the bowling against the New South Wales Second XI—his first and only match—taking a total of 3/113 including the wickets of Ron Saggers and Arthur Morris who, like Miller, went on to become members of the Invincibles. He worked in the silk-warehouse of Makower, McBeath & Co. Pty Ltd before enlisting in the Royal Australian Air Force on 5th February 1940. Newton qualified as a pilot and was commissioned in June. After serving as a flying instructor, he was posted in May 1942 to No.22 Squadron which was based in Port Moresby and equipped with Boston light bombers.

In fifty-two operational sorties—90 per cent of them flown through anti-aircraft fire—Flight Lieutenant Newton displayed exceptional courage and a remarkable determination to inflict the utmost damage on the enemy. Disdaining evasive tactics, he always ‘went straight at his objective’ to achieve maximum accuracy with his weapons. On one occasion his aircraft’s starboard engine failed over the target, but he completed the attack and then flew 160 nautical miles (296 km) to a safe airfield. His exploits earned him the nickname of ‘The Firebug’: ‘Wherever he flew he left a big fire behind him’.

On 16th March 1943, while leading an attack on an enemy base near Salamaua, New Guinea, Newton dived through intense and accurate shell-fire. Although his aircraft was repeatedly hit, he held his course and bombed the target from low level, destroying numerous buildings and supply-dumps. The plane was severely damaged—its fuselage and wings torn, engines hit, fuel tanks pierced and one tyre punctured—but he managed to nurse the machine back home and land it safely.

Despite that harrowing experience, two days later Newton returned to the same locality for another strike. This time his target was a single building, which he attacked through a barrage of fire. At the instant his bombs scored a direct hit on the building, his aircraft burst into flames. With great skill, he brought the aeroplane down in the sea about 1000 yards (914 m) offshore. From the air his squadron colleagues saw two of the Boston’s three crew members swim ashore.

Newton was one of the survivors captured by the Japanese. They beheaded him on 29th March 1943 at Salamaua. For his extraordinary fearlessness and leadership, he was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. He was the only member of the R.A.A.F. to be awarded the decoration in the Pacific theatre. Details of his murder, recorded in a captured Japanese diary, shocked Australians when newspapers reported the atrocity in October 1943. After the war, Newton’s remains were recovered and buried in Lae War Cemetery, Papua New Guinea. His medals are held by the Australian War Memorial, Canberra.

LOCATION OF MEDAL: AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL, CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA.

BURIAL PLACE: LAE WAR CEMETERY, LAE, PAPUA NEW GUINEA.

SECTION S, ROW A, GRAVE 4.