LEST WE FORGET
Warrant Officer Keith Walter AINSWORTH
Service No: 423577
Born: Hurstville NSW, 24 January 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 18 July 1942
Unit: No. 20 (Pilot) Advanced Flying Unit (RAF), RAF Station Kidlington
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 20 (Pilot) Advanced Flying Unit Oxford aircraft V3983), Oxfordshire, 7 April 1945, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Oxford (Botley) Cemetery, Oxfordshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Walter Serles Ainsworth and Eva Beatrice Ainsworth, of Sydney, New South Wales; husband of Marion Dorothea Ainsworth, of Cwmbran, Monmouthshire
Roll of Honour: Bexley NSW
Remembered: Panel 118, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 7 April 1945, Oxford V3983 took off from Kidlington on a non-operational flight. During take-off the aircraft struck the last sodium flare with the tail plane, and it crashed into nearby cement works at 0910 hours and both the crew members were killed. Flying control reported that the aircraft had hit the last sodium flare on take-off, and he had advised the pilot on radio. The Pilot replied that he was aware of the fact, and he was having difficulties, but hoped to land. Before any further contact took place the aircraft crashed.
The crew members of V3983 were:
Warrant Officer Keith Walter Ainsworth (423577) (Instructor Pilot)
Pilot Officer Kenneth George Whiteside (180287) (RAFVR) (Second 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, 166/3/412