~~~MATTHEWS, Stanley James_Royal Australian Air Force_RAAF_World War Two_(Service)~~~
Parents:--- Victor Leslie Matthews and Vera Humphreys married 1909 in Ryde, New South Wales.
Wife: --- Carman Vivienne Blackman married 21st June 1939 in Glebe, New South Wales.
RAAF Service No:---14444
Religion: --- Church of England
Home Town: --- Clayfield, Brisbane, Queensland
Trade/Calling :--- 4 years Farm Hand followed by 3 years Trainee Mechanic.
Martial status: --- Married
Next of kin: ---Wife, Mrs Carman Vivian Matthews, "Redisdale", Gellibrand St, Clayfield, Brisbane, Qld.
Enlisted in RAAF: --- 15th April 1940 in Brisbane, Queensland.
Final Rank: --- Sergeant
Final Posting: ---RAAF, No. 460 Squadron, RAF Station Breighton, Yorkshire.
Fate: --- Sergeant Stanley James Matthews was killed in action, during air operations aboard Lancaster aircraft W4837, off the French Coast, 27th January 1943. Lancaster W4837 took off from RAF Breighton at 1747 hours on 26 January 1943 detailed to bomb Lorient, France. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it did not return to base. Following post war searches and enquiries when no trace of the missing crew was found, it was recorded in 1950 that they had no known grave. Their names are commemorated on the Memorial to the Missing, Runnymede, Surrey, UK.
Burial:---Panel 193. No known grave - "Known Unto God" Lost at sea.
Commemorated:--- Roll of Honour, Grenfell New South Wales.
Commemorated:--- Panel 193, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey, England.
Commemorated:--- Panel 108, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra.
Commemorated:--- Weddin Shire and Grenfell War Memorials, Grenfell NSW.
The crew members of W4837 were:
Flight Sergeant Walter Edmund Joseph Austin (405618) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant John Robert Brierley (1499412) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Edwin Atholwood Day (403913) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Norman Talbot Mason (404975) (Bomb Aimer)
Sergeant Stanley James Matthews (14444) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Harold Bruce Oliver (403368) (Pilot)
Sergeant Gordon Robert Sedger (403701) (Navigator)