LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Keith Benjamin WALTER
Service No: 416110
Born: Walkerville SA, 10 July 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 29 March 1941
Unit: No. 1656 Conversion Unit (RAF), RAF Lindholme, Yorkshire
Died: Air Operations (No. 1656 Conversion Unit Lancaster aircraft ED316), North West Europe, 18 January 1943, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Phillip Benjamin and Lilian Maude Walter, of Prospect, South Australia
Roll of Honour: Prospect SA
Remembered: Panel 190, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 132, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
Lancaster ED316 of 1656 Conversion Unit took off from RAF Station Lindholme at 1648 hours on the night of 17/18th January 1943 to attack Berlin. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. Following post war enquiries and investigations, it was recorded in 1949 that the missing crew had no known graves.
The crew members of ED316 were:
Flight Lieutenant Sefton Douglas Lisle Hood (40975) (RNZAF) (Pilot)
Sergeant David John Lindsay (411109) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner, (A/B))
Sergeant Stanley Ernest Logue (22643) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Harold Frederick Muller (26117) (Flight Engineer)
Flying Officer Keith Benjamin Walter (416110) (Navigator/Bomb Aimer)
Pilot Officer Kenneth Arnold Charles Weaving (401259) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Sergeant Harold Woodrow (591524) (RAF) (Air Gunner)
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, 166/43/28