LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer William Walter FURSE
Service No: 115476
Born: Prospect SA, 24 February 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 12 August 1942
Unit: No. 207 Squadron (RAF), RAF Spilsby, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations (No. 207 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ME667), Germany, 6 October 1944, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Hamburg Cemetery, Hamburg, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William Langman Furse and Ethel Ruby Furse, of Croydon, South Australia.
Roll of Honour: Hindmarsh SA
Remembered: Panel 122, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
Lancaster ME667 took off from RAF Spilsby at 1730 hours on the night of 6/7th October 1944, detailed to bomb Bremen, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed at 2032 hours at Lehester Deich, a small hamlet 10 kms north east from Bremen, and all the crew were killed.
The crew members of ME 667 were:
Pilot Officer Douglas Roy Abell (417773) (Second Pilot)
Pilot Officer John Mervyn Felgate (436371) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Pilot Officer William Walter Furse (115476) (Rear Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Clifford Henry Houghton (1620799) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Thomas Ronald Maravan-Williams (1579978) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Flying Officer John Hartley Middleton (423153) (Pilot)
Sergeant Gordon Arthur Payne (187217) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Pilot Officer Samuel John Trimble (403204) (Wireless Air Gunner)
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, 166/14/278