LEST WE FORGET
Warrant Officer Arthur William PRYOR
Service No: 415679
Born: Wagin WA, 26 April 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 7 December 1941
Unit: No. 614 Squadron (RAF), Stornara, Italy
Died: Air Operations (No. 614 Squadron Halifax aircraft JP287), Austria, 6 July 1944, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Klagenfurt War Cemetery, Austria
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Mr. and Mrs. Leslie George Pryor; husband of Joan Enid Pryor, of Horsmonden, Kent, England.
Roll of Honour: East Wagin WA
Remembered: Panel 129, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
At 2115 hours on 6 July 1944, Halifax JP287 took off, detailed to bomb Feuersbrunn aerodrome near Vienna, Austria. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed at Innerhalbach on the 6th July after being attacked by enemy night fighters. All the crew members were killed.
The crew members of JP287 were:
Sergeant Percy Charles Dolman (1576699) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Flying Officer Maurice George Harrison (127902) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant Norman Harold Hodson (1046507) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Warrant Officer Arthur William Pryor (415679) (Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Glyn Davidson Rees (139883) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Squadron Leader Alfred Sudden (114771) (RAFVR) (Visual Air Bomber)
Flight Sergeant Walter Richard Vokes (417537) (Wireless 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, 166/33/88