LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant William Mathew SCHAFER
Service No: 433034
Born: Tempe NSW, 28 July 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 16 February 1943
Unit: No. 30 Operational Training Unit (RAF), RAF Hixon, Staffordshire
Died: Aircraft Accident: (No. 30 Operational Training Unit Wellington aircraft MF968), Irish Sea, 12 October 1944, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Percy Henry and Agnes Schafer, of Tempe, New South Wales, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Sydney NSW
Remembered: Panel 261, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey
Remembered: Panel 130, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Wellington MF968 of No 30 Operational Training Unit RAF took off from RAF Seighford satellite aerodrome at 0300 hours on 12 October 1944, on a night cross country exercise. Approximately 30 minutes after take-off the first position report was received from the aircraft, but after that nothing was heard and MF968 did not return to base. The route of the exercise was over the Cardigan Bay area. In 1949 it was recorded that the missing crew had lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of MF968 were:
Warrant Officer John Richardson Gibson (426094) (Navigator)
Sergeant Hubert Glasper (1699735) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Ronald George Kingsley (419758) (Air Bomber)
Flight Sergeant William Mathew Schafer (433034) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Angus Reginald Telford (437884) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Douglas John White (427966) (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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/37/571