LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Walter Lachlan STAINES
Service No: 402413
Born: Hendra QLD, 7 September 1916
Enlisted in the RAAF: 19 August 1940 (at Sydney NSW)
Unit: No. 459 Squadron, Gambut, Libya
Died: Air Operations: (No. 459 Squadron Hudson aircraft FH302), Mediterranean, 5 August 1942, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Charles George Victor and Margaret Ellen Staines; husband of Joyce Winifred Staines, of Arncliffe, 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: Commonwealth Bank of Australia Honour Rolls, Sydney NSW
On the morning of 5 August 1942, Hudson FH302 went missing during s shipping strike off the coast near the Egypt-Libya border. A search found no trace of the missing aircraft or its crew. The crew members of FH302 were:
Flight Sergeant Leonard Gamble (404880) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Arthur Stewart Killham (1071482) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Walter Lachlan Staines (402413) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Noel Compton Woolcock (405461) (RNZAF) (Navigator)
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:
Ilbery, P.L.T. (Peter Leslie Thomas) (422957) Hatching an Air Force: 2SFTS, 5SFTS, 1BFTS Uranquinty and Wagga Wagga, Banner Books Maryborough QLD 4650, 2002
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