LEST WE FORGET

Sergeant Eric Douglas WILLIAMS

Service No: 402687
Born: Glenbrook NSW, 5 September 1917
Enlisted in the RAAF: 18 September 1940
Unit: No. 10 Operational Training Unit (RAF), RAF Station Abingdon
Died: Air Operations: (No.10 Operational Training Unit Whitley aircraft P4944), Germany, 26 June 1942, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Hamburg Cemetery Germany, Hamburg, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William Heitman Williams and Winifred Jane Williams, of Glenbrook, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Glenbrook NSW
Remembered: Panel 132, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT

At 2252 hours on the night of 25 June 1942 Whitley P4944 took off from Abingdon detailed to bomb Bremen, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. It was later learned that all the crew members had been killed.

The crew members of P4944 were:

Flight Sergeant Frederick Clifford House (904338) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Gilbert Mansfield Murphy (1382260) (RAFVR) (Observer)
Sergeant Leonard Norman Reynolds (1313246) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Warrant Officer Gordon Lea Wilkinson (R/78711) (RCAF) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Eric Douglas Williams (402687) (Pilot)

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, 163/278/3353

Book Now Book Now