Scotch College

An old boy lost and found

Barton Irving ‘Bill’ Coutie (1936) trained in World War II with the RAF, and was serving in 23 Squadron RAAF when his plane was mortally damaged by the Japanese on 11 February 1942, and disappeared inland over New Britain in Papua New Guinea.

Bill’s parents were told he was ‘missing’ and that this was ‘as a result of operations in the Pacific area’, a vagueness presumably required by security procedures.

A year and a half later, the RAAF could still say no more than that ‘I greatly regret to inform you that no information has been received concerning your son … The question as to whether proceedings should in these circumstances be initiated to presume your son’s death for official purposes has recently been considered, and it has been decided that no such action should at this stage be taken.

‘A member missing in the Pacific area … could with the help of friendly natives remain in hiding for an indefinite period, but would have great difficulty in communicating with the outside world. Even if he had the means to do so, he would be prevented by considerations of his own safety from attempting to communicate …

‘In these circumstances it has been decided that the mere fact that nothing has been heard of a member over a considerable period cannot be taken as an indication that he has lost his life …’.

Also, there was also the possibility that Bill was a prisoner of war, but this could not be explored, because of ‘the constant refusal of the Japanese to release information concerning prisoners of war held by them’.

Years passed. Throughout that time the family could only hope.

Once the war had ended, in late 1945 the RAAF began ‘extensive searches and enquiries’, visiting areas where the plane might have come down and questioning ‘numerous Japanese officers and natives’. All such endeavours proved fruitless and the RAAF was eventually obliged to write to the Couties, in May 1946, that ‘no trace has been found of the aircraft or of any member of the crew. In the circumstances, it is considered that all members of the crew must have lost their lives when the aircraft became missing. Action will, therefore, shortly be taken to presume officially that your son has lost his life’.

Years passed. Hope lingered, for Bill’s family asked Scotch not to include his name among the war dead honoured in the Memorial Hall in 1955.

Years passed. This year an American missionary, Mark Reichman, and his son, Jared, set out to search for a wreck they had heard about from the local inhabitants. After much planning and hard travel, they found a bomber in several large pieces, with bullet-holes in the tail, and with the cockpit lying upside down and partially buried in mud. An RAAF forensic team has now searched carefully for the remains of the four airmen in the crew. No human remains were found but various objects were unearthed, including Bill’s dog tags, which are being given to his sister.

After sixty-six years, a long uncertainty has been resolved. GS