LEST WE FORGET
Warrant Officer Murray Alexander BAXTER
Service No: 416821
Born: Wallacedale VIC, 17 October 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 11 October 1941 (at Adelaide SA)
Unit: No. 178 Squadron (RAF), Amendola, Italy
Died: Air Operations (No. 178 Squadron Liberator aircraft EW264), Ochota, Poland, 15 August 1944, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Krakow Rackowicki Cemetery, Poland
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Alexander and Winifred Baxter; husband of Margaret Eileen Baxter, of Coburg, Victoria, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Edenhope VIC
Remembered: Panel 118, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
Warrant Officer Baxter flying Liberator EW264 was reported missing during a supply dropping mission and it was presumed he had died on 15 August 1944. The cause of the aircraft loss is not known.
The crew members of EW264 were:
Flight Sergeant Ferdinand Joseph Barrett (1671099) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator / Air Gunner)
Warrant Officer Murray Alexander Baxter (416821) (Pilot)
Sergeant Gordon Wallace Joslyn (1605719) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Flight Sergeant Jasper Victor Lee (1180518) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant William Pratt (1570343) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Richard William Robinson (1271870 (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant John Winter (1824963) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Five RAAF members serving in RAF Squadrons were lost in action during air operations providing assistance during the Warsaw Uprising in 1944:
Flight Sergeant Alexander Bennett (418698) No. 148 Squadron (RAF), Died: 5 August 1944
Warrant Officer Murray Alexander Baxter (416821)
Flying Officer Maurice Langford Casey (418064) No. 148 Squadron (RAF) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 12 November 1945
Squadron Leader John Philip Liversidge (401092) No. 178 Squadron (RAF) Died: 17 August 1944
Flight Lieutenant Allan Hunter Hammett DFM (400754) No. 178 Squadron (RAF) Fought with Polish Resistance Forces, Discharged from the RAAF: 16 February 1946
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 A9301, 416821
Website: LostAircraft.com