LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Frederick George MATTHEWS
Service No: 412465
Born: Leeton NSW, 5 May 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 19 July 1941
Unit: No. 214 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Chedburgh
Died: Air Operations: (No. 214 Squadron Stirling aircraft EF3900, France, 13 August 1943, Aged 25 Years
Buried: La Bussiere-sur-Ouche Communal Cemetery, Cote-d’Or, France
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Jewell and Lydia Jane Matthews, of Yanco, New South Wales, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Leeton NSW
Remembered: Panel 127, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: ANZAC Memorial Clock, Leeton NSW
At 2153 hours on the night of 12 August 1943 Stirling EF390 took off from Chedburgh detailed to bomb Torino, Italy. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed at la Bussiere-sur-Ouche (Cote d’Or), 25 kms south west of Dijon,
France. All the crew members were killed.
The crew members of EF390 were:
Sergeant Kenneth James Cork (1331079) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Albert Douglas Harris (415529) (RNZAF) (Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Frank Wilfred Holland (132094) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant John Geoffrey Knight (963535) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Pilot Officer Frederick George Matthews (412465) (Pilot)
Sergeant Henry George Ott (133605) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Alistair Frederick Rose (416542) (RNZAF) (Navigator)
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, 166/27/104
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line