LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Stanley Maurice WILSON
Service No: 402081
Born: Sydney NSW, 21 April 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 5 February 1940
Unit: No. 76 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Middleton St George
Died: Air Operations: (No. 76 Squadron Halifax aircraft L9615), off the French Coast, 30 December 1941, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Mr. and Mrs. J. Wilson, of Bondi, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 63, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 132, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1122 hours on 30 December 1941 Halifax L9615 took off from Middleton St George to attack the German Battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau near Brest, France. The aircraft was last seen after attacking the target 20 miles from the French coast with smoke coming from the starboard outer engine and loosing height rapidly. It was later recorded that the missing crew members had lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of L9615 were:
Sergeant Lawrence Blair (955468) (RAFVR) (First Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Sergeant Frederick Eaton (958669) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant William Ralph Gates (R/59718) (RCAF) (Second Pilot)
Pilot Officer Douglas Stuart King (J/4824) (RCAF) (Pilot)
Sergeant Peter Davies Randall (567345) (RAF) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Hubert John Toski (1375624) (RAFVR) (Second Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Sergeant Stanley Maurice Wilson (402081) (Observer)
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 Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/178/248
Bibliography:
Chorley W R, To See the Dawn Breaking: 76 Squadron Operations, W R Chorley Devon UK, 1981