LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer William George SHARPE
Service No: 400638
Born: Ivanhoe VIC, 3 July 1913
Enlisted in the RAAF: 14 October 1940 (at Sydney NSW)
Unit: No. 148 Squadron (RAF), Landing Ground 237, Egypt
Died: Air Operations (No. 148 Squadron Wellington aircraft AD637), off the Libyan Coast, 14 November 1942, Aged 29 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of George Frederick and Alice Amy Sharpe, of Adelaide, South Australia. B.Sc.; Forestry Service
Roll of Honour: Adelaide SA
Remembered: Column 265, Alamein Memorial Egypt
Remembered: Panel 130, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
Wellington AD637 of No. 148 Squadron was detailed to attack enemy stores in Benghazi Harbour on the night of 13/14th November 1942. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after it took off at 1933 hours, and it did not return to base. Following post war enquiries and investigations, it was recorded in 1948 that the missing crew had lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of AD637 were:
Pilot Officer Ian George Elwin Davidson (116742) (RAFVR) (Second Pilot)
Sergeant James Milford Jones (1384094) (RAFVR) (Observer)
Warrant Officer II Herbert Mitchell Lane (R/74190) (RCAF) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer William George Sharpe (400638) (Pilot)
Sergeant Roger Edward Swift (1034790) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant John Lindsay Matthews Thomson (404044) (Air Gunner)
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, 163/161/320