LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Donald Keith STEPHENSON
Service No: 42836
Born: Ballarat VIC, 2 March 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 20 September 1941
Unit: No. 8 Squadron
Died: Air Operations: (No. 8 Squadron Beaufort aircraft A9-376), Vivigani, New Guinea, 31 January 1944, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Dr. Keith Arnold Stephenson and Florence Mabel Stephenson, of Cheltenham, Victoria
Roll of Honour: Melbourne VIC
Remembered: Panel 9, Port Moresby Memorial, PNG
Remembered: Panel 99, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Beaufort A9-376 took off from Vivigani at 0505 hours on 31 January 1944 for a weather reconnaissance of the Solomons Sea. About 5 minutes later a gun position reported a flash and explosion in Moresby Strait. The aircraft failed to respond to radio calls and a search was commenced a first light. Wreckage from A9-376 was subsequently located about 15 kms east of Vivigani airfield.
The crew members of A9-376 were:
Flight Sergeant Berte Dempsey (409790) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Gilbert McKenzie Fleming (418375) (Pilot)
Warrant Officer Leonard William Gooding (3319) (Warrant Officer Signals)
Flight Sergeant Donald Keith Stephenson (42836) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant William Arthur Sudholz (414274) (Wireless Air Gunner)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A9845, 254