LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Robert Worrall STEPHENSON
Service No: 404418
Born: Brisbane QLD, 21 June 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 16 August 1940
Unit: No. 218 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Marham
Died: Air Operations (No. 218 Squadron Wellington aircraft X9677), off the English Coast, 11 October 1941, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Percy John Worrall Stephenson and Grace Isabel Stephenson, of Gympie, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Brisbane QLD
Remembered: Panel 63, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 130, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2151 hours on 11 October 1941 Wellington X9677 took off from Marham to attack Bordeaux, France. On return, the aircraft came down in the sea when it was force landed into the sea near St Albans Head, Dorset, due to a fuel shortage. An extensive search was conducted by the St Ives Lifeboat and three crew members were rescued.
The crew members of X9677 were:
Sergeant Lionel Maurice Bensted (404428) Slightly injured, Killed on Air Operations: 10 June 1942
Sergeant Archibald Cowen Honeyman (404549) Slightly injured, Killed on Air Operations: 10 June 1942
Sergeant Eric William Ireland (902411) (RAFVR)
Sergeant Alan Maxwell McLean (402387) (Pilot) Slightly injured, Killed on Air Operations: 10 June 1942
Sergeant Robert Worrall Stephenson (404418) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Sergeant James Douglas Pugh (926529) (RAFVR)
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, 163/163/242