LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Wilfred ROBERTS
From Australia serving in the Royal Air Force
Service No: 40319 (RAF)
Born: Brisbane QLD, Date unavailable
Enlisted in the RAF: c1937
Unit: No. 83 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Scampton
Died: Air Operations: (No. 83 Squadron Hampden I aircraft L4054), North Sea, 7 April 1940, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Chevington Cemetery, Northumberland
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William David Roberts, and of Ellen Roberts, of Remuera, Auckland, New Zealand.
Roll of Honour: Unknown
On 6 April 1940, Hampden L4054 took off from Scampton at 1915 hours to patrol over the North Sea. The aircraft ran out of fuel and was in the process of being abandoned at 0415 hours over Whitley Bay off the Northumberland coast. The Hampden crashed into the sea in the vicinity of St. Mary’s Lighthouse and all four crew members were killed.
The crew members of L4054 were:
Pilot Officer Keith Brooke-Taylor (41251) (RAF) (Second Pilot)
Sergeant Andrew McNicol (563207) (RAF) (Wireless Operator)
Pilot Officer Wilfred Roberts (40319) (RAF) (Pilot)
Leading Aircraftman Denis William Sharpe (541437) (RAF) (Air Gunner)
References:
Chorley, W.R. Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War Volume 1 Aircraft and Aircrew Losses 1939-1940, Midland Counties Publications UK, 1992
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records