LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant William Charles CHANDLER
Service No: 408476
Born: Hobart TAS, 22 October 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 17 July 1942
Unit: No. 15 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Mildenhall
Died: Air Operations (No. 15 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ND955), Netherlands, 25 May 1944, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Eindhoven (Woensel) General Cemetery, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Albert Percy and Rita Mary Chandler, of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Roll of Honour: Hobart TAS
Remembered: Panel 120, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 0003 hours on the morning of 25 May 1944 Lancaster ND955 took off from Mildenhall to bomb Aachen, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. A Missing Research & Enquiry Team later established that the aircraft was shot down by night fighters and crashed approximately 2 kms north of the village of Someren, which is 12 miles east of Eindhoven, Netherlands. All the crew members were killed.
The crew members of ND955 were:
Flight Sergeant William Charles Chandler (408476) (Bomb Aimer)
Flying Officer Kenneth Douglas Goddard (139402) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Robert John Hughes (2209477) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Frederick Daniel Maddock (R/146775) (RCAF) (Rear Gunner)
Flying Officer William Dennett McKay (422255) (Pilot)
Sergeant Dermott Frederick Arthur Peach (1872747) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flying Officer Jack Turner (152492) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
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, 166/7/505