LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant William Allen GODFREY
Service No: 406392
Born: Hughsdale VIC, 26 May 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 9 December 1940 (at Perth WA)
Unit: No. 27 Operational Training Unit (RAF), RAF Lichfield, Staffordshire
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 27 Operational Training Unit Wellington aircraft Z8785), Staffordshire, 26 February 1942, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Fradley (St. Stephen’s) Church, Staffordshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Ernest William Clifford and Edith Ann Godfrey, of South Perth, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Perth WA
Remembered: Panel 122, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
Remembered: Honour Avenues, Kings Park WA
On the 26th February 1942, Wellington Z8785 took off from RAF Lichfield at 1440 hours, detailed to carry out a training exercise. Twenty minutes after take off when the port engine failed, the aircraft crash landed near Trent Valley Railway Station, Lichfield. A fire broke out from the starboard motor, the flames spread rapidly, consuming the aircraft. Sergeant Godfrey died later of his injuries, and Sergeants Longmuir and Jennings were injured
The crew members of Z8785 were:
Sergeant William Allen Godfrey (406392) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Donald James Jennings (408152) (Pilot) Injured, Killed on Air Operations: 1 October 1944
Sergeant Ralph Graeme Longmuir (403362) (Pilot) Injured, Discharged from the RAAF: 19 December 1945
Sergeant G H Mellor (929433) (RAFVR) Uninjured
Sergeant T Willey (RAF) Uninjured
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/118/285