LEST WE FORGET
Aircraftman Class I William Herbert DEMPSEY
Service No: 67786
Born: Herberton QLD, 5 February 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 17 July 1942 (at Sydney NSW)
Unit: No. 4 Operational Training Unit
Died: Ground Accident, RAAF Station Williamtown NSW, 5 March 1943, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Newcastle (Sandgate) War Cemetery, NSW
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William and Anne Dempsey; husband of Edna Mavis Dempsey, of Mittagong
Roll of Honour: Mittagong NSW
Remembered: Panel 112, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Mittagong and District War Memorial, Mittagong NSW
Remembered: The Capt. Clarence Smith Jeffries (V.C.) and Pte. William Matthew Currey (V.C.) Memorial Wall, Sandgate NSW
At 2050 hours on 5 March 1943, Aircraftman Class I Dempsey, a Guard, died on duty when he was accidentally shot. He was on duty at the Main Gate and was armed with a Smith & Weston revolver when the revolver accidentally discharged. The accident was witnessed by two other members.
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, 166/9/42
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line