LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant William MacPHEE
Service No: 402874
Born: Cremorne NSW, 24 May 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 11 November 1940
Unit: No. 61 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Syerston
Died: Air Operations: (No. 61 Squadron Lancaster aircraft W4173), Germany, 17 September 1942, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Kleve, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Hugh and Agnes MacPhee, of Coogee, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Randwick NSW
Remembered: Panel 126, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2000 hours on the night of 16 September 1942 Lancaster W4173 took off from Syerston detailed to bomb Essen, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed at Heiligenhaus-Hosel, 14 kms north east of Dusseldorf, Germany, and all the crew members were killed.
The crew members of W4173 were:
Sergeant Jack Berry (1061056) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber/Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Harry Mayo Richard Broadhead (1001480) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant David James Green (1006321) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant William MacPhee (402874) (Navigator)
Warrant Officer Aubrey William Osman (404935) (RNZAF) (Pilot)
Sergeant Charles Maxwell Thorn (411409) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant Thomas Charles Woodhouse (1307063) (RAFVR) (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 Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/141/731