LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant William Morris ARNOLD
Service No: 416140
Born: Melbourne VIC, 1 November 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 31 March 1941 (at Adelaide SA)
Unit: No. 279 Squadron (RAF), RAF Bircham Newton, Norfolk
Died: Air Operations (No. 279 Squadron Hudson aircraft V9031), off the English Coast, 7 January 1943, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William Turner Arnold and Nellie May Arnold, of Glenelg, South Australia.
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 192, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 118, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
Hudson V9031 of 279 Squadron was detailed to carry out an Air-Sea Rescue search off the Lizzard. The aircraft took off at 0820 hours on 7 January 1943 from RAF Station St Eval, but nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. Following post war enquiries and investigations, it was recorded in 1948 that the missing crew members had lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of V9031 were:
Flight Sergeant William Morris Arnold (416140) (Pilot)
Sergeant Raymond Frank Bannister (553996) (RAF) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Sergeant Reginald William Paradise (403951) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Sergeant James David Sclater (411945) (RNZAF) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/4/63