LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Charles William WALKER
Service No: 407956
Born: Brompton SA, 19 February 1909
Enlisted in the RAAF: 3 February 1941
Unit: No. 50 Squadron (RAF), RAF Skellingthorpe, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations (No. 50 Squadron Lancaster aircraft W4382), North West Europe, 18 December 1942, Aged 33 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Edward and Myrtle May Walker; husband of Daphne Lucy Walker, of Brompton, South Australia. Australian Test Cricketer. Toured England with 1930 and 1938 Australian Teams
Roll of Honour: Prospect SA
Remembered: Panel 111, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 131, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
Lancaster W4382 took off from RAF Station Skellingthorpe at 1705 hours on the night of 17 December 1942 to attack a target at Soltau, Germany. Post war investigations and enquiries failed to reveal any trace of the missing aircraft or crew, and in 1950 it was recorded that the crew had lost their lives with no known grave.
The crew members of W4382 were:
Flight Lieutenant John Charles Atkinson (120725) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant Francis Martin (951050) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant James Cornelius O’Neill (402604) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Sergeant John Mason Reilly (702772) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Percy William Rowling (401287) (Navigator)
Pilot Officer Henry William Joseph Smith DFM (404622) (Air Bomber)
Flying Officer Charles William Walker (407956) (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, 163/63/204