LEST WE FORGET
Second Lieutenant William Fraser SLEEMAN
From Australia serving in the Royal Flying Corps
Service No: 416 (Australian Army)
Born: Ballarat VIC, April 1895
Enlisted in the Army: 17 August 1914
Unit: 55th Squadron, Royal Flying Corps, based at Boisdinghem, France
Died: Aircraft Accident, France, 31 May 1917, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Longuenesse (St. Omer) Souvenir Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William James and Marjory Fraser Sleeman, of “Stornoway,” 634, Glenhuntly Rd., Caulfield, Victoria, Australia. An Anzac. Born at Ballarat, Victoria
Remembered: Commemorative Roll, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 6 August 1915, Second Lieutenant Sleeman resigned from the Australian Army and accepted a Commission in the British Army
On arrival at the Squadron’s new airfield at Boisdingham, DH4 aircraft A2172, flown by Second Lieutenant Sleeman (Pilot) and Lieutenant Gerald Inchbold RFC (Observer), stalled, spun and was completely wrecked, killing both crew members.
References:
Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record B2455, SLEEMAN WILLIAM FRASER
National Archives UK RAF Casualty Book AIR 1/968 page 277, 260775