LEST WE FORGET
Flying Sergeant John Gray WILLIAMS
Service No: 419678
Born: Camperdown VIC, 31 January 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 11 September 1942
Unit: No. 86 Squadron (RAF), RAF Tain, Highland, Scotland
Died: Air Operations: (No. 86 Squadron Liberator aircraft FL 931), North Sea, 26 June 1944, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Robert John and Rose Evelyn Williams, of Mia Mia, Victoria, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Coleraine VIC
Remembered: Panel 262, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 132, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Liberator FL 931 took off from Tain at 0255 hours on 26 June 1944 to carry out an anti-submarine patrol in the North Sea. Nothing further was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. With no trace of the missing aircraft or crew being found from post war investigations and enquiries, it was recorded in 1949 that the missing crew were lost at sea.
The crew members of FL 931 were:
Sergeant Geoffrey Gordon Leighton (1480818) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Mechanic/Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Lewis Harry Mason (424197) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Flight Lieutenant Frederic Delmege Moffitt (411799) (Pilot)
Sergeant James Moffat (1821094) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant Dennis O’Beirne (1052892) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Flight Lieutenant Harry Pearson (125872) (RAFVR) (First Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Keith Richardson (427942) (Second Navigator)
Flying Officer Stanley William Whitby (434069) (Second Pilot)
Flight Sergeant John Gray Williams (419678) (Wireless Operator/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, 166/43/734
Bibliography:
Jay, Alwyn, Endurance; Coastal Command Liberator Operations 1941-5, Banner Books, Maryborough QLD, 4650, 1996