LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Warwick Melville BEAUCHAMP
Service No: 421880
Born: Auburn NSW, 9 March 1924
Enlisted in the RAAF: 24 April 1942
Unit: No. 160 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 160 Squadron Liberator aircraft BZ864), near Colombo, 19 April 1944, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Colombo (Liveramentu) Cemetery, Sri Lanka
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Harry Cecil and Mary Winifred Beauchamp, of Marrickville, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 118, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Shortly before 0200 hours on the morning of 19 April 1944 Liberator BZ864 took off detailed to carry out a dive bombing attack on an enemy convoy. The aircraft crashed shortly after take-off when it attained a height of 50 feet and struck the top of a gun site, lost height, crashed into trees and burst into flames. Six of the crew members were killed and three were injured.
The crew members of BZ864 were:
Flight Sergeant Warwick Melville Beauchamp (421880) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Frederick Scott Brissenden (422118) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant L C Colbourne (R/130098) (RCAF) (Wireless Air Gunner) Injured
Pilot Officer William John Crawford (151436) (RAFVR) (Co-Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Walter Nevitt Harris (416961) (Air Gunner) Injured, Discharged from the RAAF: 3 June 1948
Sergeant Reginald Thomas Holbrook (1213763) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Squadron Leader John Frederick Percival (42378) (RAF) (Pilot)
Sergeant J K Thompson (1334326) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner) Injured
Flying Officer Kenneth Biltcliffe Winfield (151277) (RAFVR) (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 A707, 166/5/499