LEST WE FORGET

Flight Sergeant William George SWANBURY

Service No: 421867
Born: Marrickville NSW, 30 June 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 28 March 1942
Unit: No. 547 Squadron (RAF), RAF St Eval, Cornwall
Died: Air Operations: (No. 547 Squadron Liberator aircraft BZ913), Bay of Biscay, 12 April 1944, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William Albert and Florrie Ellen Swanbury, of East Lakes, New South Wales, Australia. Chartered Accountant
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 261, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 131, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Ramsgate Sub-Branch RSS and AILA Honour Roll, Ramsgate NSW

Liberator BZ913 of No. 547 Squadron took off from RAF Station St Eval at 0602 hours on 12 April 1944 on an anti-sub patrol in the Bay of Biscay. The aircraft failed to return to base. Following post war enquiries and investigations, it was recorded in 1949 that the missing crew members had lost their lives at sea.

The crew members of BZ913 were:

Sergeant Charles Hamilton Crosbie (1682055) (RAFVR)
Flight Sergeant Edward Daniels (422141) (Wireless Operator Air)
Flight Sergeant Keith Reginald Foster (421846) (Wireless Operator Air)
Flight Sergeant Murray Rufus Goldney (417634) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Flying Officer James Reginald Dyer (158451) (RAFVR)
Flight Sergeant Nigel Henry Sutton (1267276) (RAFVR)
Flight Sergeant William George Swanbury (421867) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Kenneth Wilfred Webb (410579) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Sergeant Lawrence Albert Wood (812291) (RAF (Auxiliary Air Force))

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, 166/38/486
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line

Bibliography:

Jay, Alwyn, Endurance; Coastal Command Liberator Operations 1941-5, Banner Books, Maryborough QLD, 4650, 1996

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