LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant William James NICHOLAS
Service No: 401529
Born: Bendigo VIC, 11 April 1911
Enlisted in the RAAF: 28 February 1941
Unit: No. 14 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 14 Squadron Marauder aircraft FK155), Central Mediterranean, 9 May 1943, Aged 32 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Thomas John and Alice Maud Nicholas; husband of Muriel Charlotte Nicholas, of Tarwin Lower, Victoria, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 11Column 2 Malta Memorial, Malta
Remembered: Panel 128, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 0510 hours on 9 May 1943 Marauder FK155 took off from Bone to carry out a shipping reconnaissance. Repeated requests for weather reports were not answered by FK155 and the aircraft did not return to base after the mission. Following post war enquiries and investigations, it was recorded in 1948 that the missing crew members had lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of FK155 were:
Sergeant Joseph Walter Armstrong (1078075) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Sergeant Wallace Henry Ayton (1269886) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Warrant Officer Francis Victor Dyson (401007) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Peter Fennell (1194820) (RAFVR) (Second Pilot)
Flight Sergeant William James Nicholas (401529) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Thomas Geoffrey Notcutt Russell (400940) (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, 163/147/251
Bibliography:
Napier, Michael Winged Crusaders: the exploits of 14 Squadron RFC & RAF 1915-1945, Pen & Sword Books, Barnsley UK, 2012