LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer William Henry MURRAY
Service No: 434406
Born: Wickham NSW, 2 March 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 28 November 1942 (at Brisbane QLD)
Unit: No. 640 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 640 Squadron Halifax aircraft LW422), Germany, 20 February 1944, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Mr. and Mrs. H. W. Murray, of North Bondi, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 127, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 0022 hours on the morning of 20 February 1944, Halifax LW422 took off from Driffield detailed to bomb Leipzig, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. A Missing Research and Enquiry team later reported: “Halifax LW422 was one of seven aircraft shot down on 20 February 1944 at Gohre, some 31 miles north east of Magdeburg, Germany. All the crew members were killed.”
The crew members of LW422 were:
Pilot Officer Arnold Smedley Barclay (J/24738) (RCAF) (Rear Gunner)
Flight Sergeant John Briggs (1133469) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Flying Officer James Sutherland Cant (128923) (RAFVR) (Second Pilot)
Sergeant Clifford Austin Hilton (986204) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Ivor David James May (1468242) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Colin Morrice (1126931) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer William Henry Murray (434406) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flying Officer William Robinson Waugh (125449) (RAFVR) (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 Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/28/249