LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Kenneth Murray STEWART
Service No: 403229
Born: Enfield NSW, 25 July 1917
Enlisted in the RAAF: 4 January 1941
Unit: No. 143 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 143 Squadron Beaufighter aircraft JL942), Bay of Biscay, 25 August 1943, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Norman Percy and Annie Jean Stewart, of Ryde, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Sydney NSW
Remembered: Panel 189, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 130, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 25 August 1943 Beaufighter JL942 took off from RAF Station St Eval, Cornwall, being one of a formation of six Squadron aircraft detailed to carry out an interceptor patrol in the Bay of Biscay area. The formation was attacked by enemy fighters, and other aircraft reported seeing JL942 shot down and crashing into the sea. Only two of the six aircraft returned to base from the mission. With no trace of the missing aircraft or crew being found following post war enquiries, it was recorded in 1949 that they had lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of Beaufighter JL942 were:
Flight Sergeant William James Bunting (1257142) (RAFVR) (Navigator (W))
Flying Officer Kenneth Murray Stewart (403229) (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 Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/33/256