LEST WE FORGET
Warrant Officer William James SANDERCOCK
Service No: 417420
Born: Payneham SA, 14 June 1915
Enlisted in the RAAF: 25 April 1942
Unit: No. 279 Squadron (RAF), Detachment RAF Station Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire
Died: Air Operations (No. 278 Squadron Warwick aircraft HG209), off the Norwegian Coast, 11 January 1945, Aged 29 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William Ralph and Alice Emma Sandercock, of Glossop, South Australia; husband of Sheila Beavis Sandercock, of Glenelg, South Australia
Roll of Honour: Glossop SA
Remembered: Panel 284, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 129, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
Warwick HG209 of No. 279 Squadron took off at 1330 hours on 11 January 1945 from a Squadron detachment at RAF Station Fraserburgh, to provide Air-Sea Rescue cover for an anti-shipping strike off the Norwegian coast. Enemy fighters were encountered, and HG 209 failed to return to base. HG 209 was last seen to be flying over a ditched strike aircraft (No. 143 squadron Mosquito aircraft PZ190) and believed to be followed by an Me109. It was later recorded that the missing crew had been lost at sea.
The crew members of HG209 were:
Flight Sergeant William Henry Bryan (1413675) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Warrant Officer Frederick Earl Bentley (J/93334) (RCAF)
Flying Officer George Campbell Galloway (54284) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air)
Warrant Officer Andrew Ferguson Goodall (1558334) (RAFVR)
Warrant Officer George William Mansfield (1377933) (RAFVR)
Flight Lieutenant John Henry Moreton (141068) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Warrant Officer William James Sandercock (417420) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
The crew members of PZ190 were:
Flight Sergeant Waverley William Harris (426459) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Flight Sergeant Pierre Clemence Louis Smoolenaers (1424890) (RAFVR) (Pilot) (from Belgium)
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, 166/37/695