William Sibbald (Bill) Moore in his Sidcot (flying suit) c1940. [From the Bill Moore photo collection]

On 31 May 1987, two veterans from No 10 Squadron RAAF, Flight Lieutenant Wynton Thorpe from South Australia and Sergeant Grattan (Jack) Horgan from Albany in Western Australia, attended the unveiling of a 10 Squadron memorial plaque at the RAAF Association's museum at Bull Creek in Perth, Western Australia. The memorial plaque sits amongst relics, including the port propeller, which were salvaged from the seabed wreckage of RAAF Sunderland W6054/D in 1985. The two men were members of the crew when the aircraft 'crashed, flipped on its back and split' in the English Channel forty five years earlier on 13 November 1942.

Bill Moore's 10 Squadron badge. [From the Bill Moore collection]

On 10 November 1942, RAAF Sunderland W6054/D under the command of Flying Officer Wynton Thorpe with Sergeant Horgan the flight engineer, Pilot Officer William (Bill) Moore the navigator and eight other crew members, departed Mount Batten air station in Plymouth, for the island of Gibraltar off the coast of Spain. The aircraft also carried six passengers who were to participate in Operation 'Torch', the Allied invasion of Northwest Africa. Although reports from the outward flight mention some potentially dangerous moments, the aircraft, crew and passengers arrived safely in Gibraltar.

Their return flight to England was more eventful. Delayed by bad weather, the Sunderland departed Gibraltar at 07.30 on 13 November 1942. They were to carry out an anti-shipping reconnaissance patrol during their return flight to Plymouth. This time they carried five passengers, three of them Royal Naval personnel. One of the naval personnel was Captain Frederick Peters DSO DSC who, five days earlier, had commanded HMS Walney as it entered Oran harbour in the face of point-blank fire from shore batteries, a cruiser and destroyer. He was recommended for the Victoria Cross, which was promulgated on 18 May 1943.

The underbelly of a Sunderland aircraft. [From the Bill Moore photo collection]

Flight Lieutenant Kevin Baff described their flight:

During the first part of the sortie, lightning, hail, sleet and very poor and bumpy flying conditions were encountered with headwinds of 35 to 40 knots. Seven and a half hours later, with strong headwinds still prevailing, Thorpe sent a message to base: 'May force land outside breakwater'. A further message was transmitted at 19.50 hours stating that there was only enough fuel remaining for fifteen minutes flying. Six minutes later the Sunderland approached the flare path near Mount Batten but overshot in the heavy fog and had to climb and circle to starboard before attempting another approach. The Sunderland continued to starboard and as it made a second approach in almost zero visibility suddenly crashed into the sea approximately one and a half miles from the breakwater lighthouse. The aircraft hit the water with the starboard wing down causing it to turn on its back and break-up.

[Maritime is Number Ten: a history of No. 10 Squadron RAAF, the Sunderland era, 1939-1945. Compiled and researched by Flight Lieutenant K.C. Baff. Griffin Press Limited, 1983. pp 248-249]

Bill Moore's logbook entries, 10-13 November 1942. [From the Bill Moore collection]

Peters and the other four passengers travelling in the wardroom of the aircraft were killed on impact. Although the eleven members of the aircrew survived, three of them received serious injuries and others suffered minor injuries and exposure. Pilot Officer Bill Moore, the Sunderland's navigator, supported a fellow crewman in the freezing water until they were rescued and was subsequently Mentioned in Despatches for his actions.

Pilot Officer William Moore's MID (Mention in Dispatches) was published in the London Gazette on 2 June 1945. [From the Bill Moore collection]

Bill Moore's widow and family were also amongst the crowd at the unveiling ceremony at the Bull Creek RAAF museum in Perth. After their father's death in 1968, his son and daughters compiled a 'retrospective' of his life. They have discovered his logbook entry of the crash of the Sunderland in November 1942 as well as many other details of his RAAF service.

RAAF trainee Bill Moore. [From the Bill Moore photo collection]

William Sibbald (Bill) Moore was a 23 years old draftsman when he joined the Royal Australian Air Force on 17 January 1938. He had already served six years in the militia with 44 Battalion Signals Section and he held an Amateur Radio Operators Licence. He entered a W/T (Wireless Transmission) Operators' Course at Laverton Victoria where he trained in Anson aircraft until 11 January 1939. At the completion of his course he was transferred to 14 Squadron in his home state of Western Australia and based at Pearce, north of Perth. Between 1939 and February 1941, Bill Moore, like many other RAAF trainees, spent time in Hawker Demon, Ganet, Wirraway and Wellington aircraft while he continued his aircrew training in Australia.

On 1 February 1941, Sergeant Bill Moore joined No 10 Squadron RAAF, at Mount Batten Royal Air Force Station, Plymouth in England as an Air Observer. The Australian squadron, the first to be formed during World War II, had been operational for 17 months when Moore joined them. During his first month with No 10 Squadron he flew first in Battle aircraft and then in Sunderlands. According to his RAAF logbook, he also flew with Damine, Proctor and Catalina aircraft during his first eighteen months with the Squadron.

Bill's logbook entries during October 1941, display the variety of missions the crews flew. Despite their anti-shipping activities and U-boat sightings, the only damage sustained to their aircraft was on 24 October 1941 when Bill noted: shot at by vessel – oil tank holed. He was the observer on Sunderland P9605 when it departed Mount Batten at 05.00 to fly an anti-shipping patrol. Kevin Baff's account in Maritime Number Ten describes how suddenly, in the darkness, tracer bullets appeared and although the pilot banked sharply, the port wing of the aircraft was holed and there was considerable damage to the port outer tank which was streaming oil. With clever repairs and the extraordinary efforts of the two aircraft fitters, they managed to make their way back to the base by collecting about 12 gallons of oil from the engine and replacing it in the oil tank. Apparently, the Operations Room at Pembroke Dock, Wales, had neglected to warn the crew of a Royal Navy convoy in the area and one of the escorts had opened fire on them when they flew over.

A Sunderland aircraft. [From the Bill Moore collection]

On 1 January 1942, a year after he joined 10 Squadron, Bill was promoted to Flight Sergeant. In April he was granted a commission as a Pilot Officer and six months later, on 8 October 1942, he was promoted to Flying Officer. Bill's log details his flying hours, the name of his pilot and the type of aircraft he flew. By now, Bill was the aircrafts' navigator. During May 1942, he flew 57 hours and 10 minutes in daylight missions and 8 hours 40 minutes on night missions: anti-shipping sweeps and patrols attacking U boats and being attacked. By 28 May 1942, Bill Moore, like many in 10 Squadron, had completed a huge number of hours on operations – 845 hours and 35 minutes of day flying and 243 hours and 10 minutes of night flying.

Bill's final entry in his May logbook also notes that on 28 May 1942 they 'attacked u-boat – Iti-straddled'. Baff's account in Maritime Number 10, describes the incident in more detail. Bill's aircraft, W3983/R, under the command of Flight Lieutenant Graham Pockley, was in the western Mediterranean when they sighted a surfaced Italian submarine and dived to attack, dropping depth charges. The aircraft was subjected to heavy fire from the submarine and because of a problem with the Sunderland's port bomb rack release circuit, the four depth charges which were dropped, all overshot the submarine. The crew had to first transfer their remaining depth charges over to the starboard rack before making a final, damaging attack on the still surfaced submarine. Instructed to remain over the damaged vessel until they were relieved, the aircraft circled for some hours until a Lockheed Hudson aircraft from Gibraltar arrived to continue the attack.

In March 1945, Flight Lieutenant Bill Moore returned to Australia. He had been away more than four and a half years. During his absence he had sent his fiancé Ruth monies to buy an engagement ring and she had organized her wedding dress. They were married less than one week after he returned to Perth. The newly weds were able to have five weeks together in Western Australia before Bill returned to RAAF Headquarters in Melbourne. His new wife joined him there later and they remained in Melbourne until his discharge from the RAAF in December 1945.