LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer William Ward OSBORNE
Service No: 430047
Born: Melbourne VIC, 20 February 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 4 December 1942
Unit: No. 247 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 247 Squadron Typhoon aircraft JP937), Belgium, 9 November 1944, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Aalst Communal Cemetery, Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Harold Thomas Osborne and Hilda Mary Osborne, of Malvern, Victoria. Australia. B.A., Musician
Roll of Honour: Malvern VIC
Remembered: Panel 128, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At approximately 1315 hours on 9 November 1944 Typhoon JP937 crashed and Flying Officer Osborne was killed. The aircraft was returning to Landing Ground B78 from No. 83 GSU with JP937 a replacement aircraft and when over Aalst, Belgium, the aircraft developed engine trouble. The Pilot made every endeavour to land clear of the town. To that end he lengthened his glide to such an extent that when just clear and over the village of Nieukeres which is more or less and extension of the town, the aircraft stalled at a height of fifty feet spun in and crashed in a field near Nieukeres. Visibility was extremely poor at the time.
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, 166/31/236