LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant William Henry KEEBLE
Service No: 424190
Born: Bogan Gate NSW, 26 May 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 15 August 1942
Unit: No. 5 Lancaster Finishing School (RAF), RAF Syerston, Nottinghamshire
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 10 Advanced Flying Unit Lancaster aircraft R5726), Nottinghamshire, 4 April 1944, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Oxford (Botley) Cemetery, Oxfordshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William and Bertha Annie Keeble, of Bexley, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Rockdale NSW
Remembered: Panel 125, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: M.W.S. and D.B. (Metropolitan Water Sewerage and Drainage Board) 1939-1945, Sydney NSW
At 1545 hours on the 4th April 1944, Lancaster R5726 from RAF Syerston, exploded in mid-air and crashed half a mile from Branston, Nottinghamshire, during very bad weather, and all the crew members were killed.
The crew members of R5726 were:
Sergeant Sidney Chappell (1890699) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Pilot Officer Frank Lockyer Grimwood (419308) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant William Henry Keeble (424190) (Navigator)
Flying Officer John David Murray (413640) (Pilot)
Sergeant Robert Edward James Sisley (1895505) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Flying Officer William Leopold Towers (421105) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Flight Sergeant Raymond George Williams (417548) (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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia on-Line Record A705, 166/22/220
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line