LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant William John MORAN
Service No: 423822
Born: Campsie NSW, 26 December 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 18 July 1942
Unit: No. 15 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Mildenhall
Died: Air Operations: (No. 15 Squadron Lancaster aircraft NF952), North West Europe, 27 August 1944, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John Francis and Kathleen Margaret Moran, of Milsons Point, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Milsons Point NSW
Remembered: Panel 256, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 127, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Waverley Soldier’s Memorial 1914-1918, Waverley NSW
At 2013 hours on the night of 26 August 1944 Lancaster NF952 took off from Mildenhall to attack Kiel, Germany. Nothing further was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it did not return to base. With no trace of the missing aircraft or crew being found following post war investigations and enquiries, it was recorded in 1948 that the missing crew were lost at sea.
The crew members of NF952 were:
Sergeant William Dunbar Brockett (1825415) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant George Barr Donaldson (1568395) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Bruce Douglas Dyer (429280) (Wireless Operator)
Sergeant Reginald David Faint (1175373) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Kenneth Victor Logan (1399075) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Flight Lieutenant William John Moran (423822) (Pilot)
Sergeant Charles Rennie (1563802) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
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 Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/28/386
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line