Bill Newton was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions flying Douglas Boston bombers. He was the only Australian airman to earn the decoration in the Pacific theatre and the only one to do so flying with an RAAF squadron.
Born in Melbourne, Australia on June 8, 1919 William Ellis ‘Bill’ Newton became a member of the Cadet Corps during his schooling and joined the Citizens Military Force in 1938, serving as a private in the machine-gun section of the Royal Melbourne Regiment.
At the outbreak of World War Two, he immediately enlisted and joined the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). After elementary, basic and advanced flying training in Australia he was earmarked as ideal instructor material and prevented from joining a frontline squadron. It would be May 9, 1942 before Newton finally realised his ambition and was posted to 22 Sqn RAAF to fly Douglas Boston attack bombers. By now he had been promoted to the rank of Flight Lieutenant.
In addition to maintenance issues the Bostons had originally been produced for the Dutch East Indies Air Force so the manuals and handbooks were all written in Dutch. Eventually the air and ground crews got used to the new type and on November 7 they were flown from th…
