LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer William George LUPTON
Service No: 409159
Born: Fairfield VIC, 7 June 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 19 July 1941
Unit: No. 459 Squadron, Gambut
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 459 Squadron Ventura aircraft FP543), 3 February 1944, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Knightsbridge War Cemetery, Acroma, Libya
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William and Adeliza Georgina Lupton, of Fairfield, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Heidelberg VIC
Remembered: Panel 106, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Ventura FP543 was lost in a training accident on 3 February 1944 while apparently making an unauthorised low level practice attack on a beached wreck about 50 kms north east of Gambut and all five squadron members on board were killed in the crash. On board were:
Leading Aircraftman George Campbell (R/160048) (RCAF) (Radar Technician)
Flight Sergeant Geoffrey Windibank Fretwell (1358319) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant John David Jones (1266748) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Phillip Geoffrey Lee (129482) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Pilot Officer William George Lupton (409159) (Pilot)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A9816, 145 (No. 459 Squadron Unit History)
Bibliography:
Kane-Maguire L. (Leon) Desert Scorpions: 459 Squadron RAAF 1942-1945, Australian Military History Publications Loftus NSW 2232, 2007
Winter, V.A. (Vincent Adams) (408547) Noble Six Hundred: the story of the Empire Air Training Scheme with special reference to Australians who trained in Southern Rhodesia, V.A. Winter Brighton VIC 3186, 1982