Collection related to John Boyd Ferguson

Studio portrait of VX11997 Lieutenant (later Captain) John Boyd Ferguson, 2/33 Battalion. Captain Ferguson was killed in an accident on 7 September 1943. John Ferguson was born in Adelaide, South Australia, in August 1915. He attended the Geelong College in Victoria and was active in scouting and sporting activities. He enlisted into the second Australian Imperial Force in April 1940 and left Australia as part of the third convoy sailing for overseas service. Originally bound for the Middle East, his convoy was redirected to England when it was clear that France was about to capitulate to German forces. As a young lieutenant, Ferguson was appointed as a platoon commander in A Company when the 2/33rd Battalion was raised at Tidworth, England. His battalion witnessed the Battle of Britain and prepared to defend the United Kingdom in the event of a seaborne invasion.
He was promoted to captain and placed in charge of D Company. The 2/33rd Battalion was deployed to the Middle East, where Ferguson took part in fighting against the Vichy French during the Syrian campaign. He was wounded, which temporarily put him out of any further front-line action. During his convalescence, he was assigned to an infantry training unit, so he was not with the battalion in 1942 when it was sent to Papua to fight along the Kokoda Trail and at Gona.
Ferguson rejoined the 2/33rd Battalion in Port Moresby in 1943, resuming his role as D Company's commander in time for operations to capture Lae. In the early hours of 7 September, D Company were sitting in trucks at a marshalling area near Jackson's Airfield, Port Moresby, waiting to board aircraft for Nadzab. At around 4.20 am the roar of aircraft engines was heard. A fully-loaded American four-engine B-24 Liberator heavy bomber failed to take off and crashed into the stationary vehicles. Lance Sergeant Ray Gibson later said: "Captain John Ferguson was sitting on the front seat of the lead vehicle and was incinerated, as were so many of our mates."
Sixty-two Australians and the eleven-man crew of the B-24 Liberator were killed. Ninety-two Australians were injured, many enduring horrific burns. This incident was subject to strict censorship and to this day is not widely known. This crash accounted for one-third of the battalion's fatal casualties for the entire war.

• Collection related to John Boyd Ferguson