PH Ambassador to Australia Joins Ceremony to Honor 43 Squadron Catalina Crew

Philippine Ambassador to Australia Hellen De La Vega (second from left) and Philippine Defense Attaché Col Alexander Gigantone PN with Chief of Air Force Air Marshal Robert Chipman and Mrs. Alyce Chipman at the Catalina Memorial in Cairns. (Photo courtesy of Australian Department of Defence)

CAIRNS 15 June 2023 – Philippine Ambassador to Australia Ma. Hellen B. De La Vega joined Chief of Air Force Air Marshal Robert Chipman in a commemorative ceremony honoring the crew of Number 43 Squadron, Catalina A24-64, which was lost on 14 December 1944 on Mindoro Island in the Philippines.

During the ceremony held on 11 June at the Cairns Catalina Memorial, a plaque was unveiled to honor the nine crew members of the Catalina with the families of the lost crew in attendance. According to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), the reconnaissance mission to the site in 2019 that led to the identification of the aircraft was only made possible through the approval and cooperation of the Government of the Philippines and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

The Catalinas were flown by the Air Force in the South West Pacific campaigns during the second world war and were operated out of Cairns. The Catalina Memorial on the Cairns Esplanade is dedicated to all four RAAF Catalina Squadrons that conducted mining operations in World War II — Numbers 11, 20, 42 and 43 Squadrons. All four Squadrons participated in operations in Manila during the war.

The Philippines and Australia have stood shoulder to shoulder in many campaigns since the second world war. Today, the two countries have a robust defense and security partnership contributing to the Philippines’ defense modernization and to regional peace and stability. END

Ambassador Hellen De La Vega and Defense Attaché Col Gigantone offered a wreath at the Catalina Memorial to honor the nine crew members who served on the 43 Squadron Catalina A24-64 that crashed in Mindoro in 1944. (Photo courtesy of Australian Department of Defence)

The plaque honoring the 43 Squadron Catalina crew to be added to the Catalina Memorial was unveiled in a ceremony on 11 June in Cairns.

Some of the wreckage recovered from the site in Mindoro used to identify the aircraft were shown to the Ambassador during her visit to Cairns on 11 June 2023.

For more information, visit https://www.philembassy.org.au or https://www.facebook.com/PHinAustralia/.