WITHERS, Winston John
| Service Number: | 422071 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 24 April 1942, Sydney, NSW |
| Last Rank: | Flying Officer |
| Last Unit: | No. 461 Squadron (RAAF) |
| Born: | Kempsey, New South Wales, Australia, 9 June 1915 |
| Home Town: | Inverell, Inverell, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Sydney Technical College, Ultimo, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation: | Dairy Chemist Bacteriologist (Diploma of Dairying Hawkesbury) |
| Died: | Flying Battle, Bay of Biscay, Atlantic Ocean, 29 November 1943, aged 28 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Runnymede Memorial, Englefield Green, Runnymede Borough, Surrey, England. Panel 190. |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Runnymede Air Forces Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 24 Apr 1942: | Involvement Royal Air Force , Flying Officer, 422071, No. 461 Squadron (RAAF) | |
|---|---|---|
| 24 Apr 1942: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, 422071 | |
| 24 Apr 1942: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Flying Officer, 422071, No. 461 Squadron (RAAF), Sydney, NSW |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Faithe Jones
Son of George Alfred and Amy Ethelina Withers; husband of Marion Withers, of Inverell, New South Wales, Australia. Dairy Chemist, Diploma of Dairying (Hawkesbury).
Word was received recently by Mrs. Withers that her husband, F/O Winston Withers, has been presumed dead. He was an observer navigator in a Sunderland squadron on Coastal Command. He enlisted in April 1942, and left for Canada the following February and finished training there in June, 1943. The following November he was reported missing with the rest of the crew and nothing has been heard of them since. The late airman was a son of Mr. and Mrs. G. A. Withers, of Wagga, where his wife and daughter, Diana, are staying at present, and a son-in-law of Mr. and Mrs. E. J. McBean, Inverell. In private life he was a dairy chemist in the employ of the Fresh Food and Ice Company.
Mr. and Mrs. G. A. Withers, of 16A Lindsay street, Wagga, have been advised through the RAAF casualty section that their son, Flying Officer Winston John Withers, is missing as the result of air operations on November 29. The message adds that Flying Officer Withers was a member of a Sunderland crew engaged on anti-submarine patrol and the aircraft failed to return to its base, presumably because of enemy action. The Air Minister (Mr. Drakeford) has expressed his sympathy with the parents in their anxiety, and that any further information received concerning their son will be conveyed to them immediately. F/O Withers, after his training in Australia, went to Canada, and a few months ago was transferred to England, where he received his promotion from pilot officer and was appointed to a Sunderland squadron as navigator. Their many friends in Wagga will sympathise with Mr and Mrs. Withers and hope that they will soon have better news: also with the wife of F/O Withers who recently returned to her people at Inverell following a visit to Wagga. Mrs. Withers accompanied her daughter-in-law to Inverell, where the news was coneyed to both by Mr. Withers, very shortly after their departure from Wagga.
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