LEST WE FORGET
Warrant Officer William James FARISH
Service No: 22681
Born: Chinchilla QLD, 2 November 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 21 June 1940
Unit: No. 33 Operational Base Unit, Higgins Field QLD
Died: Drowned, Townsville, 30 August 1943, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Townsville War Cemetery QLD
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William James Farish and Annie Farish; husband of Valerie Louise Farish, of Box Hill, Victoria
Roll of Honour: Box Hill VIC
Remembered: Panel 113, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 30 August 1943, Warrant Officer Farish drowned in the Ross River 100 yards upstream from the weir wall in Aitkenvale. He had shot a wild duck and fell into the water while trying to retrieve it. He became entangled in water lillies which exhausted him, and he sank under the water about 25 yards from the bank. His companion, Flight Lieutenant Francis Joel Horwood (292657), the Commanding Officer of 33OBU, was unable to save him.
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/13/112