LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant William Norris SMITH
Service No: 402410
Born: Mackay QLD, 23 June 1917
Enlisted in the RAAF: 19 August 1940 (at Sydney NSW)
Unit: No. 459 Squadron, Landing Ground 226, Egypt
Died: Air Operations: (No. 459 Squadron Hudson aircraft FH 294), Mediterranean, 13 August 1942, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Ernest Stanley Smith and Maud Dorothy Smith, of Lindfield, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Sydney NSW
Remembered: Column 266, Alamein Memorial, Egypt
Remembered: Panel 106, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Ku-ring-gai World War II Book of Remembrance, Gordon NSW
Hudsons V8994 and FH 294 were tasked on a pre-dawn shipping strike to attack “F” boats and V8994 (Sergeant Bryan Rostron (RAF) (Pilot)) successfully attacked one in position 32.06N 025.09E. Hudson FH 294 failed to return and the cause of the loss of this aircraft is unknown.
The crew members of FH 294 were:
Flight Sergeant Reginald Brandon (403416) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Walter Richard Samuel Cornish (404472) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant William Norris Smith (402410) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant William Edmund Somerville (402618) (Wireless Air Gunner)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A9816, 145 (No. 459 Squadron Unit History)
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line
Bibliography:
Kane-Maguire L. (Leon) Desert Scorpions: 459 Squadron RAAF 1942-1945, Australian Military History Publications Loftus NSW 2232, 2007
Vincent, D. (David) The RAAF Hudson Story Book 1, D. Vincent Highbury SA 5089, 1989