LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Douglas Clarke MORPHETT
Service No: 406573
Born: Cottesloe WA, 29 January 1916
Enlisted in the RAAF: 3 February 1941
Unit: No. 12 Squadron (RAF), RAF Wickenby, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations (No. 12 Squadron Lancaster I aircraft W4789), Germany, 18 January 1943, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Joseph John and Ella Morphett; husband of Hazel Lillian Morphett, of Victoria Park, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 193, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 127, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
Lancaster W4789 of 12 Squadron took off from RAF Station Wickenby, at 1626 hours on the 17 January 1943 to bomb Berlin. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. In 1949 crew members were recorded as missing with had no known grave.
The crew members of W4789 were:
Sergeant Leslie Ernest Austin (1087065) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant John Keith Bond (412099) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Sergeant Jim Corke (1378184) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant William Richard Maunder (646817) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Colin McDowell Miller (401848) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Douglas Clarke Morphett (406573) (Pilot)
Sergeant Derek Bryan Pollitt (1229401) (RAFVR) (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, 166/28/7
Bibliography:
Gaston, Bruce DFC (406646), Harry Horner DFC OAM (406595), Raymond Storer (406666) (Editors), Aircrew for the Duration: of and by members of RAAF EATS Courses 10, 11, 12 & 13, Gaston Horner and Storer, Nedlands WA, 1990