LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant William Reginald MYLES
Service No: 404636
Born: Liverpool, England, 18 January 1910
Enlisted in the RAAF: 11 October 1940 (at Brisbane QLD)
Unit: No. 11 Operational Training Unit (RAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 11 Operational Training Unit Wellington aircraft X3170), Northamptonshire, 15 December 1941, Aged 31 Years
Buried: Bassingbourn cum Kneeworth Cemetery, Cambridgeshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William and Lucy Myles; husband of Margaret Sylvia Myles, of East Malvern, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Melbourne VIC
Remembered: Panel 127, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On the night of 15 December 1941 Wellington X3170 took off from RAF Bassingbourn to carry out a night cross-country training exercise. While descending at speed, the aircraft flew into the ground at approximately 2300 hours on Whittlesey Mere, some 5 miles south south east of Peterborough. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and all the crew members were killed.
The crew members of X3170 were:
Sergeant Dennis James Dempsey (405240) (RNZAF) (Pilot)
Sergeant Harold Bryan Livingstone Gittins (R/74283) (RCAF) (Observer)
Sergeant Basil Leonard Grove-Palmer (916275) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Peter Norman Lister (1202558) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant William Reginald Myles (404636) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Albert Leonard Sanderson (41363) (RNZAF) (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 Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705 163/146/91