LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Charles William Maxwell CORKILL
Service No: 422138
Born: Homebush NSW, 23 January 1917
Enlisted in the RAAF: 25 April 1942
Unit: No. 149 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Lakenheath
Died: Air Operations (No. 149 Squadron Stirling aircraft BK798), North Sea, 20 December 1943, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William Herbert Corkill and Annie Bird Corkill, of Homebush, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Strathfield NSW
Remembered: Panel 192, Runnymede Memorial,, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 120, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Strathfield World War II Roll of Honour, Strathfield NSW
At 1720 hours on 20 December 1943 Stirling BK798 took off from Lakenheath for mine laying operations in the Friesian Islands area. Nothing further was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it did not return to base. Following post war enquiries and investigations when no trace of the missing aircraft or crew could be found, it was recorded in 1949 that the crew had lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of BK798 were:
Flight Sergeant Ralph James Ayers (409881) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Charles William Maxwell Corkill (422138) (Navigator)
Sergeant Sidney James Lunn (1603982) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant William McAdie (635873) (RAF) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Vincent Mandy (1238240) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Sergeant John Roddick Martin (R/165286) (RCAF) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Warren Michael Power (R/176903) (RCAF) (Air Gunner)
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, 166/8/328
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line