LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Clifford William MUSTO
Service No: 406149
Born: Applecross WA, 22 May 1914
Enlisted in the RAAF: 15 August 1940
Unit: No. 207 Squadron (RAF), RAF Bottesford, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations (No. 207 Squadron Lancaster aircraft R5499), North Sea, 11 August 1942, Aged 28 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Sydney and Edith Julia Musto; husband of Patricia Alice Musto, of South Perth, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: South Perth WA
Remembered: Panel 113, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 127, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
Sergeant Musto survived the crash of No. 25 Operational Training Unit Wellington aircraft N 2783 (Sergeant Henry Clifford Howard (400471) (Pilot and Aircraft Captain)) on 9 November 1941.
Lancaster R5499 of 207 Squadron took off from RAF Bottesford at 2350 hours on 10 August 1942 to lay mines in the ‘Silverthorn’ area (Kattegat, between Denmark and Sweden). The aircraft carried 5 x 1500 lb (pound) (700 kg) mines. Other aircraft reported that the weather was very bad with 10/10 cloud to all heights down to 800 feet base, and very dark. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. Following post war enquiries and investigations, it was recorded in 1949 that the missing crew had lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of R5499 were:
Sergeant Milton Wilbur Atkins (R/101589) (RCAF) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Sergeant Lionel George Cladis (1379459) (RAFVR) (Second Pilot)
Pilot Officer Gordon Easley (103574) (RAFVR) (Observer)
Flying Officer Stanley Glazebrook DFM (46019) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Raymond Raynes Hartell (106131) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Clifford William Musto (406149) (Air Gunner)
Flying Officer John Garfield Speir (J/5136) (RCAF) (Pilot)
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, 163/146/85