LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer William Douglas MITCHELL
Service No: 422968
Born: St Leonards NSW, 26 November 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 15 June 1942
Unit: No. 455 Squadron, RAF Dallachy, Morayshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 455 Squadron Beaufighter aircraft RD132), off the Norwegian Coast, 8 March 1945, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William Robert and Lilian Mitchell, of Longueville, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Sydney NSW
Remembered: Panel 268, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 106, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: University of Sydney World War II Roll of Honour, Camperdown NSW
On 8th March the Dallachy Wing returned to Midtgulen Fiord and damaged one merchant ship (4,124 tons) and two escorts hiding in that fastness. No. 455 lost one aircraft and had others damaged.
Extract from Herington, J. (John) (406545) Air War Over Europe 1944-1945, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1963 – Page 383
Beaufighter RD132 took off from RAF Dallachy at 1406 hours on 8 March 1945 to carry out an anti-ship patrol from Sandoy to Svinoy. The formation attacked shipping south of Bremanger and making for Midgulen. The target was at the bottom end of the fjord with 3 ships close inshore on each side of the fjord. Nine aircraft from the Squadron took part in the sortie and of these RD 132 failed to return. No trace of the missing crew was found.
The crew members of RD132 were:
Flight Sergeant Ivor Hilton Jury (437134) (Navigator Wireless)
Pilot Officer William Douglas Mitchell (422968) (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, 166/27/821
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line
Bibliography:
Gordon, I. (Ian) Strike and Strike Again: 455 Squadron 1944-5, Banner Books Belconnen ACT 2616, 1995
Lawson, John Horwood Wightman (251634) The Story of No. 455 Squadron (RAAF), Wilke and Company, Melbourne VIC, 1951