LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant William Allan BEARD
Service No: 402717
Born: Sydney NSW, 20 February 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 14 October 1940
Unit: No. 3 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 3 Squadron Kittyhawk aircraft AK612), Egypt, 16 April 1942, Aged 22 Years
Buried: El Alamein War Cemetery, Egypt
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William and Catherine Jemima Sawle Beard, of Strathfield, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Mittagong NSW
Remembered: Panel 98, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Mittagong and District War Memorial, Mittagong NSW
On 16 April 1942, Kittyhawk AK612 was being ferried to No. 107 Maintenance Unit for an engine change. The aircraft took off at 1615 hours from Landing Ground 12 and spun in after take-off from a height of 500 feet. The engine appeared to lose power and Sergeant Beard was killed in the crash.
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/91/201
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line