Australian Flying Corps
George Francis Jack Needham was born at Burra, South Australia, on 14 May 1889. He was the son of Richard John and Emma Plumb Needham.
His father had died prior to enlistment and his sister Eileen Doris Needham was shown as his next of kin.
He was educated at St Peter’s College, Adelaide and prior to joining the army he was an accountant with the Adelaide Union Bank: he had also served for four months in the Engineer corps at Broken Hill.
He enlisted at Adelaide on 27 January 1916 when aged 26 years and eight months and he was then transferred to Maribyrnong, Victoria where he joined as a Gunner, the 6th Reinforcements destined for the 14th Field Artillery Brigade.
On 20 October 1916 he sailed from Melbourne aboard the HMAT Borda, arriving in Plymouth on New Year’s Day 1917.
On 31 January he was struck down with influenza and admitted to 2nd Auxiliary Hospital, Southall, Middlesex but soon overcame it and returned to duty on 8 February at No 3 Camp, Larkhill on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire.
The Australian Imperial Force then sought to make use of his accountancy skills, as on 13 February 1917, he was attached to the Administrative HQ for duty with the Commonwealth Bank at Tidworth Depot.
He probably volunteered from service with the Australian Flying Corps (AFC) and joined one of their training squadrons that were being established in the UK from June 1917 onwards. Attachment to the AFC came on 30 September, followed by promotion from Air Mechanic Second Class to Cadet on 4 October. This coincided with entry into No 1 School of Military Aeronautics at Reading.
More advanced training took place at Shawbury and at Castle Bromwich, prior to being posted to 7th Training Squadron at Leighterton on 25 March 1918.
At about 1030am on 23 April 1918, he was undertaking practice, flying solo above Leighterton in a Be2e aircraft (serial number B6176). At about 2,000 feet the machine went into a spin and Cadet Needham’s attempts to recover control were thwarted when the force of the spin caused the right upper rear main spar to break away and with part of the wing missing the aircraft fell to the ground.
He was found in the wreckage, having been killed on impact. He was 29 years of age.
Burial took place, in Leighterton Church Cemetery with military honours on 27 April 1918 and a private stone headstone rather than one supplied by the CWGC, now marks his grave.
He is commemorated on the University of Adelaide WW1 Roll of Honour and also on a memorial arch at Unley (an inner suburb of Adelaide) and also on the Honour Board in Unley Town Hall.
George had a brother, 29989 Gunner Charles Francis Albert Needham, of the Australian Field Artillery, who was killed in action on 4 October 1917, probably during the Battle of Broodseinde (part of the offensive known as ‘Third Ypres’ or ‘Passchendaele’).
He is buried at The Huts Cemetery, near Ieper.
Researched by Graham Adams 5 February 2018