
QUAN, William Patrick
Service Number: | 429347 |
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Enlisted: | 11 September 1942 |
Last Rank: | Flying Officer |
Last Unit: | Not yet discovered |
Born: | Murwillumbah, New South Wales, Australia, 28 October 1922 |
Home Town: | Murwillumbah, Tweed, New South Wales |
Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
Occupation: | Farm Hand |
Died: | Flying Battle, North West Europe, 19 August 1944, aged 21 years |
Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Runnymede Memorial, Englefield Green, Runnymede Borough, Surrey, England. Panel 257. |
Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, International Bomber Command Centre Memorial, Runnymede Memorial |
World War 2 Service
3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Flying Officer, 429347 | |
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11 Sep 1942: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Flying Officer, 429347 |
William's story
William Patrick Quan (pronounced Qwan), son of Patrick Francis and Alice Elizabeth Quan, brother to Denise, Margaret, Patrick, John, Patricia and Audrey.
William was born and raised on a family owned and run sugar cane farm in Murwillumbah, NSW.
He joined the Australian Air Force at a young age, heading to Canada, and then the UK as a flight officer to fly with the Royal Air Force.
William was based with the No. 51 Squadron (RAF) in Snaith in Yorkshire, his service number was 429347.
On the 19th of August 1944, William was involved in a night raid of a German synthetic oil plant in Sterkrade.
Flying out of Snaith in a Handley Page Halifax III, the group headed with other planes to attack the plant, with RAF calling it “a successful raid with much damage to the oil plant”.
However, William and his six crewmen never made it home.
He was ‘lost without a trace’ and presumed dead.
He was 21-years-old.
As their first child, his parents never recovered from his loss.
A framed photo of William and his medals hung in the family home on the farm until it was sold in 2019.
It now hangs in the home of his late brother John, cared for by William's sister-in-law, who still lives in Murwillumbah.
His fellow crewmen were:
Adams K E C (Sgt)
Anderson E J (F/S)
Cartwright J E (Sgt)
Franklin R F J (Sgt)
Kempson K K (F/S)
McLaren E L (Sgt)
Submitted 5 May 2025 by Sarah Keszler