P/O Thorburn Mac Gowan (435754) was born in Melbourne Vic. on June 12, 1923 and enlisted in the RAAF on April 6, 1943, after his EFTS and SFTS training was posted to 2OTU.

On October 5, 1944 P/O Mac Gowan was involved in a line astern chase in Kittyhawk A29-153 when the aircraft was seen to dive, ease out and then dive vertically from 6,000ft with excessive engine revs; the aircraft somewhat exploded upon impact and caught fire killing P/O MacGowan; Parts of the aircraft were strewn over a distance of approximately 180 metres.

P/O Thorburn Mac Gowan aged 21 was buried on October 7, 1944 at the Mildura War Cemetery.

Biography – Mildura 2OTU Heritage Inc