LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Geoffrey Hugh BUTLER-WILLIAMS
From Australia serving in the Royal New Zealand Air Force
Service No: 402848 (RNZAF)
Born: Sydney NSW, 23 October 1917
Enlisted in the RNZAF: Date unavailable
Unit: No. 12 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Binbrook, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 12 Squadron Wellington II aircraft Z8579), Netherlands, 3 July 1942, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Laren (Barchem) General Cemetery, Gelderland, Netherlands
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Hugh Evan Butler-Williams and Catherine Maude Butler-Williams, of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
At 2335 hours on 2 July 1942, Wellington Z8579 took off from Binbrook to attack Bremen, Germany. The aircraft was shot down by a night-fighter and crashed at 0249 hours at Barchem (Gelderland), 4 km south south east of Lochem, Holland. Three crew members were killed and two were taken prisoner.
The crew members of Z8579 were:
Sergeant Geoffrey Hugh Butler-Williams (402848) (RNZAF) (Observer)
Flight Sergeant Ian Clarke Dunn (404927) (Pilot)
Sergeant David Evans (1313522) (RAFVR) (Front Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Kenneth William Hawkins (948556) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner) PoW
Sergeant Stanley Morris (1073118) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner) PoW
In a later report Sergeant Morris stated “The aircraft crashed at Lochem, Holland. Sergeant Williams, Dunn and Evans were still in the aircraft when I left. Both Williams and Evans were killed in the engagement with an enemy night fighter when the aircraft exploded. Hawkins was a PoW.” Sergeant Hawkins reported “Morris baled out before me, and the other three were still in the aircraft. Morris is a PoW like myself.”
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Chorley W R, Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War, Volume 3 Aircraft and Aircrew Losses 1942, Midland Counties Publications UK, 1994
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records