LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant William Dennis Keith FORBES
Service No: 401498
Born: Prahran VIC, 18 September 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 10 October 1941
Unit: No. 27 Operational Training Unit (RAF), RAF Lichfield, Staffordshire
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 27 Operational Training Unit Wellington aircraft X3547), Cheshire, 20 March 1943, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Byley (St John) Churchyard, Cheshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Keith Angel Forbes and Eileen Forbes, of Williamstown, Victoria, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Williamstown VIC
Remembered: Panel 122, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On the 20 March 1943, Wellington X3547 took off from RAF Lichfield detailed to carry out a cine camera gun exercise. The aircraft crashed at 1520 hours after flying into a barrage balloon cable at Barrows Green in the northeast outskirts of Crewe, Cheshire, killing all crew members.
The crew members of X3574 were:
Sergeant Frank Ronald Conway (1218971) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Leonard John Coppins (628893) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant William Dennis Keith Forbes (401498) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Leslie Frederick Hills (997003) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Henry Thomas Holley (911325) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant John Ernest Rouse (1318732) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Flight Sergeant Leonard David Watson (402813) (Pilot)
Sergeant Douglas Williams (1316166) (RAFVR) (Second Pilot)
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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/14/23