LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Alan Neal WILLIAMS
Service No: 402427
Born: Bathurst NSW, 10 August 1915
Enlisted in the RAAF: 19 August 1940
Unit: No. 78 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 78 Squadron Whitley aircraft Z9305), North Sea, 28 January 1942, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Frank Stanley Williams and Winifred Ansley Williams, of Manly, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Manly NSW
Remembered: Panel 113, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 132, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Manly ANZAC War Memorial, Manly NSW
On the night of 28 January 1942 Whitley Z9305 was detailed for operations against Rotterdam. The aircraft failed to return to base. It was reported that the aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire from trawlers off the Essex coast and crashed at 1905 hours into the sea near the Cork Lightship off Harwich. The bodies of two crew members were recovered by HMS Lorna Doone and Flight Sergeant Campbell’s remains were buried at sea. It was recorded that the remaining missing crew members had lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of Z9305 were:
Flight Sergeant Douglas Reid Campbell (R/61803) (RCAF)
Sergeant Denis Curnick (777661) (RAFVR)
Sergeant Ronald Welburn Dobson (536899) (RAFVR)
Sergeant Alan Neal Williams (402427) (Pilot)
Pilot Officer David Llewellyn Williams (106848) (RAFVR)
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, 163/178/267
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line