LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Ronald Keith MATTHEWS
Service No: 427007
Born: Boulder WA, 11 May 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 26 April 1942
Unit: No. 18 (Pilot) Advanced Flying Unit (RAF), RAF Church Lawford, Warwickshire
Died: Aircraft Accident (Airspeed Oxford aircraft 4733), Worcestershire, 28 August 1943, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Oxford (Botley) Cemetery, Oxfordshire UK
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William John and Isabella Janet Matthews, of Nedlands, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Nedlands WA
Remembered: Panel 127, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
On the 28th August 1943, Oxford 4733 took off from RAF Church Lawford, on a solo night cross country flight, and crashed at 0505 hours in vicinity of Wythall, eleven miles from Wittenfield. The pilot, Flight Sergeant Matthews, was killed. It was presumed that there was a loss of control of the aircraft while in flight.
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, 166/27/216