LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Cyril William SAUNDERS
Service No: 423179
Born: Stockton NSW, 7 October 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 20 June 1942
Unit: No. 161 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 161 Squadron Stirling aircraft LE236), Bedfordshire, 14 February 1945, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Cambridge City Cemetery, Cambridgeshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Cyril Everard and Annie Louisa Saunders; husband of Betty Heather Saunders, of Stockton, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Newcastle NSW
Remembered: Panel 130, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Newcastle Boys High School Memorial Entrance World War II, Waratah NSW
While flying in poor visibility on a training exercise on 14 February 1945, Stirling LE236 was hit by a Mustang of the 383rd Fighter Squadron flown by First Lieutenant T W Kiley (USAAF) and crashed at Potton. 3 miles east from Sandy, Bedfordshire. All the crew members and First Lieutenant Kiley lost their lives in the accident.
The crew members of LE236 were:
Flight Sergeant Peter Norman Carr (1455177) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant William George Cornish (1176517) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Peter Norman Ellis (1817434) (RAFVR) (Mid Gunner)
Sergeant Derrick Howard Mayers (3010669) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant Cyril William Saunders (423179) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Eric Timperley (146711) (RAF) (Pilot)
Flying Officer George Colin Wiggins (425394) (Air Bomber)
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, 166/37/937
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line