LEST WE FORGET

Sergeant William Dudley PEIRCE

Service No: 405259
Born: Wollongong NSW, 20 April 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 3 March 1941
Unit: No. 49 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Scampton
Died: Air Operations: (No. 49 Squadron Lancaster aircraft L7567), Netherlands, 28 August 1942, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Mook War Cemetery, Limburg, Netherlands
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Harry Thomas Peirce and Bertha Peirce, of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Nabiac NSW
Remembered: Panel 128, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT

Sergeant Peirce has a service number that indicates enlistment from Queensland (405XXX) but the DVA WWII Nominal Roll shows a NSW enlistment.

At 2111 hours on the night of 28 August 1942 Lancaster L7567 took off from Scampton to bomb Nurnberg, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. A report by a Missing Research and Enquiry team stated: “the aircraft crashed near Maastricht approximately 35 miles south east of Eindhoven. Five of the crew members were killed and two had become Prisoners of War.

The crew members of L7567 were:

Warrant Officer J Allen (619244) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer) PoW
Sergeant Eric Albert Berrett (1181332) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Reginald Patrick Dobson (403238) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant G H M Gordon (1060972) (RAFVR) (Navigator) PoW
Flying Officer John Lowrie (405290) (RNZAF) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Norman Rae Mitchell (R/77146) (RCAF) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant William Dudley Peirce (405259) (Rear Gunner)

In a PoW report Sergeant Gordon stated: “The aircraft was attacked about 2300 hours on 28 August over the village of Venlo in Holland. We were attacked from dead astern and the fighter’s burst was the first indication we had that he was there. Dobson was not hit but came beside me to help with Berrett who was badly wounded. The aircraft got out of control and was losing height rapidly. The order to abandon was given but it was difficult to move about. I don’t think Dobson made it. The machine exploded when it hit the ground and must have killed those inside.”

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 A9301, 405259

Book Now Book Now