LEST WE FORGET
Leading Aircraftman Richard Keith SHELTON
Service No: 88452
Born: Bunbury WA, 16 September 1907
Enlisted in the RAAF: 29 March 1943
Unit: No. 1 Squadron, Menangle NSW
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 1 Squadron Beaufort aircraft A9-507), Morundah NSW, 2 February 1944, Aged 36 Years
Buried: Narrendera War Cemetery, NSW
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Avenel Hope Shelton and Elizabeth Shelton; husband of Jean Constance Shelton, of Launceston.
Roll of Honour: Launceston TAS
Remembered: Panel 97, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 2 February 1944, Beaufort aircraft A9-505 and A9-507 had a mid-air collision near Morundah. All ten RAAF members on both aircraft were killed.
The crew members of A9-507 were:
Flight Sergeant Percival Allen (415957) (Pilot)
Flying Officer Cedric Ivan Barber (415959) (Observer)
Flying Officer Donald Glen Broad (437112) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant George Russell McCausland (419053) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Leading Aircraftman Richard Keith Shelton (88452) (Ground Crew, Photographer)
The crew members of A9-505 were:
Flight Sergeant Stanley Murray Johnston (429967) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Jack Stace Newnham (423876) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Leading Aircraftman John Lovell Parer Nugent (130211) (Ground Crew, Instrument Fitter)
Flight Sergeant Michael O’Malley (426903) (Observer)
Flight Sergeant George Livingstone Forbes Wood (415097) (Pilot)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A9845, 176
Bibliography:
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Beaufort, Beaufighter and Mosquito in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1990