LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Walter Keith BEESTON
Service No: 615
Born: Brisbane QLD, 14 November 1914
Enlisted in the RAAF: 8 January 1940
Unit: No. 23 Squadron, Archerfield QLD
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 23 Squadron Hudson A16-27), off the Queensland Coast, 12 August 1940, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Walter Brill Beeston and Effie Hilda Beeston, of Corinda, Queensland
Roll of Honour: Brisbane QLD
Remembered: Panel X, Sydney Memorial, Rookwood NSW
Remembered: Panel 101, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 12 August 1940, Hudson A16-27 went missing on an over water navigation exercise flight. This aircraft was one of three Hudsons received by the Squadron on 6 August 1940. The loss of A16-27 incurred No. 23 Squadron’s first wartime casualties. The crew members were:
Pilot Officer Walter Keith Beeston (615) (Second Pilot)
Sergeant Dudley Howard Downs (2464) (Wireless Operator)
Flying Officer Mervyn Stephen Matthews (382) (Pilot)
Sergeant Hamilton James O’Gorman (2545) (Supernumerary, Third Pilot)
Leading Aircraftman George Leslie Savage (3746) (Flight Rigger)
Aircraftman Class 1 Francis John Starr (5085) (Wireless Operator)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A9845, 134; A705, 163/23/74
Bibliography:
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Anson, Hudson and Sunderland in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1992