LEST WE FORGET
Warrant Officer Morris Pearce WATSON
Service No: 29256
Born: Dumbleyung WA, 25 April 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 12 November 1940
Unit: No. 5 Operational Training Unit, RAF Williamtown, NSW
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 5 Operational Training Unit Beaufighter aircraft A8-71), near Parkes NSW, 24 June 1945, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Parkes General Cemetery, NSW
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William John and Hilda Blanche Eva Watson, of Albany, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Dumbleyung WA
Remembered: Panel 113, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
On 24 June 1945 Department of Aircraft Production (DAP) Beaufighter aircraft A8-71 and A8-93 had a mid-air collision and crashed 5 kms south east of Parkes NSW, killing all four crew members.
The crew members of A8-71 were:
Sergeant Victor Morwick Fry (449074) (Navigator)
Warrant Officer Morris Pearce Watson (29256) (Pilot)
The crew members of A8-93 were:
Flight Sergeant Daniel Lorraine (430916) (Navigator)
Flying Officer Stanley Russell Roberts (427225) (Pilot)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A9845, 54
Bibliography:
Parnell, N.M. (Neville M.) Whispering Death: A history of the RAAF’s Beaufighter Squadrons, AH & AW Reed Terry Hills NSW, 1980
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Beaufort, Beaufighter and Mosquito in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1990