Branch of Service

Air Force

Conflict

Vietnam (1962-1975)

Place of Enlistment

Recruited in London from RAF

Gender

Male

Date of Birth

29/04/1928

Place of Birth

South Africa

Address (at enlistment)

Hughes ACT

Occupation

Air force pilot

Next of Kin

Husband of Margaret A. Lance; father of Murray, Graham and Meredith Lance.

Burial Place

Woden Cemetery, Canberra ACT: RSL Section, grave 338X

Service Number

316996

Final Rank

Flight Lieutenant

Final Unit

9 Squadron RAAF

Died (killed in action) 7 June 1971 aged 40 years.

AWM Roll of Honour Memorial Panel 5

Awarded DFC and Air Medal while serving with the South African Air Force in the Korean War.

Died (killed in action) on 7 June 1971 aged 40 years. He is buried in Woden Cemetery. Flight Lieutenant Lance had previously served in the South African Air Force, the Royal Air Force and the Royal Canadian Air Force. He joined the RAAF in 1961 and spent eight years as an instructor. He and a crewman died on 7 June 1971 when his Iroquois UH1 (Huey) helicopter crashed.

They were providing gunship, ammunition resupply and casualty evacuation support for Bravo Company of the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment and Centurion tanks of the 1st Armoured Regiment, who were involved in an attack on an enemy bunker system in Long Khanh province as part of Operation Overlord. During an ammunition resupply, Lance's helicopter was hit by enemy fire and crashed into trees killing him, the gunner and injuring two others.

AWM Roll of Honour Database
AWM collection records : P05389.009, P05389.010, P05767.001
DVA Nominal Roll of Vietnam Veterans
Chris Coulthard-Clark, The RAAF in Vietnam: Australian Air Involvement in the Vietnam War 1962-1975, St Leonards, NSW, Allen and Unwin / AWM, 1995 (pp. 146, 352)
'500: The Australians who died in Vietnam', Australian Special Edition, 3-4 Oct 1992 (p.10)
The Canberra Times - 9 June 1971 (p.3)
Don Mountain (ed.), Monumental Inscriptions: Australian Capital Territory including Jervis Bay, Canberra, Heraldry and Genealogy Society of Canberra, 2001 (p.133)
Image courtesy of Tony Cox