LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant William MURPHY
Service No: 419669
Born: Cheltenham VIC, 3 May 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 11 September 1942
Unit: No. 166 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Kirmington
Died: Air Operations: (No. 166 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ND628), Germany, 25 July 1944, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Durnbach War Cemetery, Bayern, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Stephan Arie Murphy and Grace Agnes Murphy, of Mordialloc, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Heatherton VIC
Remembered: Panel 127, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2110 hours on the night of 24 July1944 Lancaster ND628 took off from Kirmington detailed to bomb Stuttgart, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed near the town of Rheinshausen on the east bank of the Rhine, 5 kms south east of Speyer and all the crew members were killed.
The crew members of ND628 were:
Flying Officer Bryan Patrick Fraser (434396) (Navigator)
Pilot Officer Gordon Leonard Heath (423114) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant William Murphy (419669) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Leonard Alfred Newell (1237683) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant Donald Eric Simmons (1395857) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Norman Desmond Staff (1592107) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Roland Williams (859670) (RAF (Auxiliary Air Force)) (Mid Upper 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, 166/28/362