258001 F/Sgt. Eric Hempel Sherman Royal Australian Air Force 18 Operational Training Unit from:Stanhope, Victoria, Australia (d.2nd August 1943) Eric Sherman is the uncle I never knew; he was one of my father's brothers, and he died before I was born. Eric was the 7th of eight children, and he was born in 1923 at Stanhope in the Goulburn Valley region of Victoria, Australia. His parents were Leonard and Anna Sherman nee Hempel. Anna died in 1936.
All of the Sherman children received a good education, but Eric was the first one to get the chance to go on to secondary school and matriculate.
After he left school, Eric worked on the family orchard at Stanhope and cut wood in the Rushworth bush during the down times.
When War broke out, John Sherman joined the Australian Army. Leonard Sherman had served in the British Army in the Boer War. He was a trooper in the 112th Middlesex Co. of the Imperial Yeomanry. It must have been with a heavy heart that he waved one of his sons off to another war, followed by a second son a couple of years later. John returned home, officially in one piece, after serving in the Middle East and New Guinea.
Eric presented at the enlistment office of the Australian Air Force in Melbourne immediately after his eighteenth birthday. So many young men had applied to join the RAAF, so it turned into a waiting game. He made the grade and signed up in January 1942.
Basic military training at Somers in Victoria was followed by wireless and gunner training at Parkes in New South Wales. He was promoted to Flight Sergeant in November of 1942, and shortly thereafter learned he was to be seconded to the RAF in the UK.
Eric landed in England in March of 1943. He spent time at 11 Personnel Dispatch and Reception Centre in Brighton, where he received Air Observer Training, before taking his post at 18 OTU on 7th July. His time there was short, but he did manage to buy a bicycle, took a train to Aberdeen, and went to visit his Scottish cousins.
In the afternoon of 2nd August, 1943, Eric was the wireless operator and air gunner on a training flight when the pilot lost control of the plane. It crashed at Wroot and all four crew members were killed.
Eric Hempel Sherman died a few days before his 20th birthday. His family members at home were devastated when the postmaster at Stanhope delivered the news. Their sadness meant that Eric was rarely spoken of. He was my uncle who died in the war.
As I write this tribute, I remember him, and thank him for his service.
RIP Eric Hempel Sherman 1923-1943. Your niece.
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