LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer William HOUGH
Service No: 417081
Born: Croydon SA, 30 July 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 6 December 1941
Unit: No. 299 Squadron (RAF), RAF Keevil, Wiltshire
Died: Air Operations (No. 299 Squadron Stirling aircraft LJ940), France, 15 August 1944, Aged 23 Years
Buried: St Doulchard Communal Cemetery, Cher, France
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Arthur and Florence Ada Hough of Toorak Gardens, South Australia
Roll of Honour: Burnside SA
Remembered: Panel 124, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
On 15th August 1944, Stirling LJ940 took off at 2230 hours from RAF station Keevil on an operational sortie, and crash at Mereau, about 25 kms west of Bourges, France All the crew members were killed. The Commanding Officer of No. 299 Squadron reported in a circumstantial report that: “Stirling LJ 940 was detailed to fly an operational sortie (Pick/08) on the evening of 14th August. This entailed dropping containers in Central France. The Pilot was briefed to drop from a height of approximately 2,000 feet after crossing the American lines and release his load at 500 feet about ground level. Two other crews reported seeing an aircraft shot down by anti-aircraft fire and crash in flames near Bourges. This could have been LJ 940 as that aircraft failed to return to base.”
The crew members of LJ940 were:
Flight Sergeant Charles Richard Dutton (1579247) (RAFVR) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Sergeant Frederick Fielder (1585687) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant James Terence Henry (1588894) (RAF) (Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer William Hough (417081) (Pilot)
Sergeant Anthony Gilbert Shipton (1893268) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant Peter Walker (1547911) (RAF) (Bomb Aimer)
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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/18/436