LEST WE FORGET
Warrant Officer William STOTT
Service No: 407563
Born: Aberdeen Scotland, 13 August 1910
Enlisted in the RAAF: 9 November 1940 (at Adelaide SA)
Unit: No. 120 Squadron (RAF), Reykjavik, Iceland
Died: Air Operations (No. 120 Squadron Liberator aircraft FK923), Atlantic Ocean, 4 October 1943, Aged 33 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John and Jane Stott; husband of Viola Joyce Stott, of Woodlands, South Australia.
Roll of Honour: St Peters SA
Remembered: Panel 191, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 130, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
Liberator FK923 of 120 Squadron took off from RAF Reykjavik on an anti-submarine patrol over an Atlantic convoy, on 4 October 1943. At 1130 hours a signal from the aircraft was received stating ‘about to carry out an attack’. The signal faded and nothing further was heard from the aircraft which did not return to base. It was considered that the aircraft may have been shot down by anti-aircraft fire. Searches were carried out the next day and aircraft were warned to keep a lookout, but no trace of the missing aircraft or crew were found. It was recorded in 1949 that the missing crew had lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of FK923 were:
Flight Lieutenant John Nigel Grey Bruce (66528) (RAFVR)
Flight Sergeant Albert Leslie Furr (130062) (RAFVR)
Wing Commander Richard Maitland Longmore OBE (33265) (RAF) (Pilot)
Warrant Officer Ernest Arthur Mincham (406306) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Arthur Edward Parsons (901162) (RAFVR)
Warrant Officer William Stott (407563) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Robert Wood Tait (121402) (RAFVR)
Pilot Officer Francis Maxwell Webber (J/14447) (RCAF)
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, 166/38/301
Bibliography:
Jay, Alwyn, Endurance; Coastal Command Liberator Operations 1941-5, Banner Books, Maryborough QLD, 4650, 1996