John Verdun Newton

On 27 September 1945, the seat of Greenough was officially declared vacant. A by-election was held on 27 October 1945. The Labor candidate was Jack Newton's brother, Cecil Newton, who was defeated by the Liberal nominee, David Brand. (A veteran of the North African and Greek campaigns with the Australian Army, Brand later became Premier and retained Greenough until his retirement from politics in 1975.)

Newton was officially listed as "missing in action" following a mission on the evening of 14 January 1944.

On 14 January 1944, Newton was the captain of Lancaster B.III, JA905 (squadron code "MG-V"), which was recorded as taking off from Oakington at 16:53. The crew to mark targets for the main bomber force, around Braunschweig (Brunswick), in Lower Saxony. The other crew members were RAF personnel: Flt Lt H. O. Wharmby (second pilot); Sgt W. H. Holmes (flight engineer); F/O A. R. Broadbent (navigator); Flt Sgt D. V. Bunting (bomb aimer); Sgt S. W. Bury (wireless operator/front gunner); P/O F. W. Harding (mid-upper gunner) and; F/O J. N. (Nigel) Richards (rear gunner). (Nigel Richards had partly inspired the main character in Cyril Connolly's pre-war novel The Rock Pool.)

When a State election was announced for 20 November 1943, Newton was pre-selected as the Labor Party (ALP) candidate for the seat of Greenough in the Legislative Assembly (lower house). He reportedly made his formal nomination by cable from London. Newton was elected with 52.81% (1,944 of 3,733 votes cast) of the first preferences, defeating the incumbent, William Patrick of the Country Party. Greenough became one of two seats in the lower house gained by the ALP as it retained government.

Towards the end of 1943, Newton took part in a BBC Radio Overseas Service program Calling Australian Towns, giving a speech that he styled as an address to his constituents in Greenough (see excerpt, left).

In late October 1943, Newton was promoted to Flight Lieutenant and posted to No. 90 Squadron RAF, at RAF Tuddenham in Suffolk. He captained Short Stirlings during raids on Germany, including raids on Kassel, Frankfurt and Bremen. His commanding officer at 90 Sqn, Wing Commander J. H. Giles, described Newton as: "An above average Officer who is an excellent leader of men."

In a newspaper interview published in November 1943, Newton mentioned that all of the other members of his original crew had been killed, while flying with another pilot. (This appears to have occurred while Newton was hospitalised due to illness.) He added that he expected to complete a tour of duty (which at the time comprised 30 sorties) "by Christmas", suggesting that he was flying, on average, three or four operations per week.

In 1941, Newton was called up and enlisted in the Citizen Air Force (as the RAAF reserve was known at the time) on 17 August 1941, with the service number 415270. After training as a pilot at No. 9 Elementary Flying Training School (at RAAF Cunderdin) and No. 4 Service Flying Training School (RAAF Geraldton), Newton was awarded pilot's "wings" on 15 May 1942.

John Verdun Newton (12 April 1916 – 14 January 1944) was an Australian politician and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) officer. While serving with the RAAF in Europe during the Second World War, Newton was elected to the Parliament of Western Australia for the seat of Greenough at the 1943 state election, but was killed in action 55 days later.